Mélissa Petit was born in Saint-Raphaël in France. She began studying singing at the age of 14 at the Music School of Saint-Raphaёl. In 2009 she attended the University of Musicology in Nice. In the same year she won 2nd prize at the International Competition “Concorso Musica Sacra di Roma” and later 1st prize at the national singing competition at Béziers in France. Between 2010 and 2013, Mélissa was a member of the International Opera Studio at Hamburgische Staatsoper in Hamburg, Germany. In March 2012 Mélissa won first prize and the ‘Prix de l’opéra de Bordeaux’ at the international competition ‘Musiques au Coeur du Médoc’ in Bordeaux. In November 2012 she was chosen by the Hamburgische Staatsoper to represent them in the Stella Maris competition aboard the prestigious cruise ship MS Europa. There she won two prizes: an audition with Deutsche Grammophon and a contract for concerts at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. The competition was broadcast by German and French television as a four-part documentary: ‘Sängerkrieg auf Hoher See’ by Ralf Pleger. In August 2013, Mélissa won third prize at the ‘Queen Sonja International Music Competition’ in Oslo, Norway in the presence of her Majesty Queen Sonja. The same year, she was invited to appear on the television programme ‘Stars of tomorrow’, presented by the tenor Rolando Villazon and broadcast by the French/German television channel ARTE. She worked again with ARTE in 2015 on the television programme ‘Musik Entdeckung mit Thomas Engelbrock’. In 2014, she sang the role of Edilia in the new co-production of Händel’s Almira, Queen of Castille at Hamburgische Staatsoper and at the Festival of Early Music in Innsbruck. She also made her debut as Soeur Constance in Poulenc’s Le dialogue des Carmélites in Hamburg conducted by Simone Young. The 2015/2016 season marked her debut at the Opéra Bastille in Paris, France, where she sang the role of Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Between 2015 and 2017, she was a member of the ensemble at Opernhaus Zürich in Switzerland, where she made a number of role debuts, including Erste Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Servilia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Ännchen in Weber’s Der Freischütz, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther and Créuse in Charpentier’s Médée. She made her role debut as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen at the Bregenz Festival in Austria in summer 2017, and in November 2017, Mélissa participated in a gala concert organized in Copenhagen in honour of her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, and her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway. She also gave her role debut as both Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio at Opernhaus Zürich in December 2017 and Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China in summer 2018. The same year, Mélissa reprised the role of Marzelline in a new production of Fidelio at Hamburgische Staatsoper, conducted by Kent Nagano and was Johanna Barker in the new production of Sweeney Todd at Opernhaus Zürich alongside Bryn Terfel. In January 2019, Mélissa won third prize at the Paris International Opera Competition. The year 2019 marked important role and house debuts for Mélissa as she returned to Opernhaus Zürich as the title role in the new production of Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie and brought the role to Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris in a concert version, both conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. She also made her debut at Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf as Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette, where she was invited back for the same part few months later. During summer 2019, Mélissa sang her first Gilda in the new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Bregenz Festival, which was recorded on DVD by Unitel. The same year, she made another debut as Eurydice in the new production of Glück’s Orphée et Eurydice at Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium. At the beginning of 2020, Mélissa was invited back to Opernhaus Zürich as Marzelline in their revival of Beethoven’s Fidelio and sang the same role in the new production of Fidelio at Theater an der Wien in Vienna, working with Oscar Prize-winner Christoph Waltz, and recorded on DVD by Unitel. Her future engagements include Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff at Opera de Lille, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Bregenz Festival, Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème at Deutsche Oper am Rhein.