Melanie Moore (BEd 2002 OISE) teaches music, sings and performs several jobs. Brad Tapson has just entered his fourth year of an architecture and visual arts degree at U of T, and attends Victoria College. Brad and Melanie have been a couple for two-and-a-half years and live together within walking distance of the St. George campus.
Melanie: Brad and I first met when he auditioned for Onoscatopoeia, the Hart House jazz choir. I was on the audition panel. He was so talented, we just had to have him. I then wanted him to try out as tenor for the Toronto All-Star Big Band, the professional big band I was directing – but I thought he was far too surly to agree to costume changes and ridiculous 1940s-style choreography. Then Onoscatopoeia got a gig at the same venue as the big band. After the performance, Brad caught up with me and said, “I wish I could be in something like that!” I’m pretty sure that was the moment I fell in love with him. I mean, honestly, he’s handsome, talented and wants to sing in a big band? That’s pretty much my dream man!
Now we both sing in the U of T a cappella group TBA. Sometimes in the evenings, Brad plays his guitar, I play the piano and we sing together. You probably think I’m kidding, but I’m not. I swear, we’ll wind up being the von Trapp family someday.
Brad: I grew up in London, Ontario, and Melanie grew up in Truro, Nova Scotia. There’s a 10-year age difference between us; she’s 32, I’m 22. Even though Mel and I grew up half a country and a whole decade apart, we have a lot of the same interests. Along with jazz and a cappella, we both like alternative and Canadian music. In high school, I really liked a folk-rock band called Moxy Früvous from Toronto; she was a big fan, too.
Mel and I are also coffee snobs. We love trying different styles of fair-trade coffee at local shops and brewing a pot at home. I’m always impressed when a person orders their coffee black. We both drink it black and are proud of it.
Click below to watch Brad and Melanie perform “Meaning” with a cappella group TBA.
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