Thanks to her creatively encouraging family,
Melita started learning piano at age 4, writing songs at 9, and teaching herself guitar at 15. She grew up in St. Louis, Missouri with her two older sisters and parents, recent immigrants from Johannesburg, South Africa. As a young child, Melita loved to perform, regularly holding shows for her parents, sisters, friends, cat, or as a last resort, her stuffed animals. By age 5, she had memorized hundreds of songs and rhymes, that she would recite to anyone who would listen! In her late teens, she made her first recording, a tape titled “Exist Dance.” These songs were written at a time that she says marked the beginning of her interest in nature and spirituality.
After studying anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin, Melita transferred to the Buddhist-inspired Naropa University in Boulder, CO and majored in Ecopsychology and Religious Studies, an education that has informed and inspired her musical career. While still in school, Melita was gifted time in a professional studio and recorded her first CD “Shalem,” a set of deeply thoughtful original songs narrating her journey of self-discovery at the time. Melita later went on to earn accreditation as an early childhood educator, and taught at a number of progressive, Waldorf-inspired schools both in Boulder, and Berkeley, CA.
Melita graduated from Naropa in 2000. Following an eight-month journey to Israel, and a series of international Rainbow Gatherings, Melita moved to Berkeley, and fell naturally into Northern California’s emerging conscious music community. When she and her friends, a group of musicians and puppeteers, turned an old movie theatre into a recording studio for a week, the result was “The Adventures of Kid Kaleidoscope,” a rootsy, fun-loving, consciousness-raising album of original songs for children. Kid Kaleidoscope performed for years at festivals and benefits including the Oregon Country Fair, Harmony Festival, Earthdance, and Salmon Aid, and reunite annually to play at Google’s Halloween Extravaganza in Mountain View, California.
Melita then performed for three years with the all-female acoustic ensemble Ya Elah, directed by Bon Singer, former director of the acclaimed Balkan a capella group Kitka, and appeared on the group’s 2004 CD “Each of Us” produced by Grammy-nominated guitarist Alex de Grassi. During this time, Melita also performed and recorded with Hamsa Lila, a San Francisco-based world fusion band, now a catalyst of Northern California’s conscious music scene.
In 2005, Leilah Meadow came into the world, born at home. In the year following the birth of her daughter, Melita created her first solo album with producer, Ben Krames of Jungleshack Music. This album merged many of the genres that had attracted her: singer-songwriter originals, meditative chants, children's songs, and more contemporary folk rock tunes. What emerged was “Delicate Web,” an eclectic compilation of acoustic folk music, ethnic instrumentation, and thoughtful lyrics. Melita performed as a singer-songwriter during these years, collaborating with other accomplished artists such as Shimshai, Donna DeLory, Tina Malia, Sarita Pockell of Hamsa Lila, and Eliyahu Sills of the Qadim Ensemble.
Melita’s interest in children’s music grew along with her daughter, and soon she put her work as an educator together with her love of music. In 2006 she began teaching music throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, first as a Music Together teacher, and then she branched out on her own. She now incorporates elements of Music Together as well as Orff-Shulwerk into her own unique style. She has worked as a music specialist at a variety of organizations for children and families in the Bay, among them Studio Grow and the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, Sadiedey’s and the Play Café in Oakland, and within the Bay Area Public Library system. She currently works in a number of schools, among them Beth El Nursery School, Gan Shalom Pre-school, Happy Baby Small School, and Congregation Netivot Shalom School. She also runs a music school from her home for parents and children. Using puppets and an array of acoustic instruments, she inspires little ones to discover their creative spark through song, story, movement, and dance.
In 2008, Melita began working on her second studio album. "Earth Dream Lullabies" is an album of songs about the Earth, ocean, moon, stars, animals, and the forces that unite all beings on our planet. With this album, Melita's hope was to connect children and their parents to a sense of the sacred in this world we live in, something that has always been very important to her.
In her work to advance the "eco-kids movement," Melita performs regularly at venues promoting earth consciousness, such as Farmers' Markets and Earth Day events, and has partnered with organizations that uphold earth awareness and natural parenting practices, such as Speesees, a nationally acclaimed company offering fair trade and organic children’s clothing for the growing market of 'green' parents, and Birthways, a non-profit that provides education and resources for pregnancy, birth and natural parenting.
In 2007, Melita founded Octopretzel, a whimsical bluegrass-inspired folk band and puppet troupe for kids and families, whose highly-spirited shows regularly generate “kiddie mosh pits” at well-known music venues in the Bay Area, such as Ashkenaz in Berkeley, the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin, and La Peña Cultural Center in Oakland.
Octopretzel recorded their first album in 2008, and is releasing their new album, "If I Were a Song" in January, 2011.
Octopretzel continues to generate a vibrant and diverse following in Northern California. Their music stretches across genres and connects generations, appealing to people of various backgrounds and all ages, young and old. They have shared the stage with other popular kids’ bands such as Orange Sherbet, the Sippy Cups, Charity and the Jam Band and Asheba.
Melita has also worked extensively with the Jewish community in the Bay Area. As she has come to connect more with her own Jewish roots, she has found a lot of joy working with kids in a way that connects them to their heritage through songs and stories. Melita has performed throughout Northern California at Jewish agencies and venues, such as the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Bureau of Jewish Education, and the acclaimed Jewish childrens' distribution organization, the PJ Library.
She and Octopretzel perform annually in synagogues and Jewish community centers throughout the Bay for Hannukkah, Passover and Purim celebrations.
Her latest album, "Shirei Gan Shalom: Songs in the Garden," currently being distributed nationally by the PJ Library, was inspired by her daughter's beloved preschool, Gan Shalom, and is a collection of songs for children with Jewish and Hebrew content. Over the course of her colorful and unconventional career, Melita has continually strived to bring an authentic voice to her music, in whatever form it has taken. She aspires to truly connect with people through her songs, and seeks to touch her listeners in a way that opens them up to the joy and magic that we share in this world.
