Melissa Cross is a vocal coach from New York City. She was a student for many years at Interlochen Arts Academy and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in England. Though her background lies in musical theater and traditional opera, she is the creator of The Zen of Screaming Instructional DVD, a DVD that teaches the art of singing referred to as 'screaming'. The DVDs are distributed world wide by Alfred Music and also at the website http://www.melissacross.com. Over 50,000 copies have been sold to date. Although Cross has instructed all genres for over 20 years, she is best known for her training with extreme phonation and working with vocalists including Randy Blythe, Oliver Sykes, Matthew Tuck, David Draiman and Corey Taylor. She has garnered national media attention as an expert in helping vocalists minimize and avoid damage to their vocal cords. She has appeared on numerous late night network television shows, NPR, MTV, VH1, the Discovery and Smithsonian Channel. She is internationally featured in several countries where seminars were conducted. At the 2009 Voice Foundation Annual Symposium she presented to classical voice teachers and international voice physicians and therapists her method to enable awareness of contemporary stylings. She continues to present workshops there annually as well as seminars for teachers and artists. Melissa Cross' first DVD was called The Zen of Screaming: Vocal Instruction for a New Breed. Her second DVD was titled The Zen of Screaming 2 and expanded on the instruction found in the first DVD. A new DVD called ZOS3 - See the Sound, which incorporates a brand new method of teaching vocal use of all types and genres through the use of visual imaging was scheduled for release in Summer 2012. Cross was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists. In 2011, Machine Head frontman Robert Flynn studied with Melissa Cross in preparation for the upcoming album Unto The Locust. Flynn said it was an intense session of unlearning seventeen years of bad habits.
