A jazz aficionado, Mel Rapelyea was the founder of the Chestertown Jazz Festival on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 2006 will mark the tenth-year of the annual event. The event was founded to raise ongoing funds for “The African American Heritage Council” a museum of the Upper Eastern Shore about the Native and African Americans of the region.

Dr. Melvin Rapelyea was born on the North Shore of Long Island. His heritage is American Indian and African. He graduated from Adelphi University of Garden City in 1972 and attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine from which he received his M.D. degree in 1976. Although he started his post-graduate training in Surgery, Dr. Rapelyea began his Radiology training in 1978. He became a Radiologist with an interest in Interventional and Angiographic procedures. After 21 years of practicing in Maryland and serving as Medical Director of the Imaging Department, Dr. Rapelyea and three of his colleagues relocated to Cookeville to staff the Department of Medical Imaging at Cookeville Regional Medical Center.

He also worked on the TTU Autumn Bachanal where local artisans donated works to raise money for scholarships in the TTU Fine Arts Department and Dr. Chuck Womack sponsored him as a new member in the Cookeville Rotary.