Teaching Career

In addition to performing, Mel has spent the last 30 years teaching a new generation of brass players and tuba players the techniques that he has developed.  He spends countless hours coaxing the proper breathing, tonal quality and vibrato from his very motivated students.

As professor of tuba, Mel  taught at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and, in 1988, became professor of tuba at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Lyon.  He is regularly in demand internationally for master classes such as at the Julliard School of Music, Northwestern University, Indiana University, Washington D.C. (U.S.A.), Copenhagen (Denmark), Stockholm (Sweden), The Hague and Utrecht (Holland), Porto (Portugal), Lieska (Finland), Jever, Zuhl and Hammelburg (Germany), and throughout France and Spain.  He has served as a member of the jury for international tuba and euphonium competitions in Sydney (president of the jury), Markneukirchen, Riva del Garda, Narbonne, Sapporo and Brno.  He is presently professor of Tuba (doctorate level) at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.