Her Story
About Brenda
Music has been part of my life since I was a child. As a young teenager, my family encouraged me to sing at every venue they could find because they believed in my voice and thought I would become someone someday. When I was a teenager, my brother saw a TV show called Vive la Musica, the Panamanian version of American Idol, and encouraged me to audition. I waited in line all day, from 7:30 AM until 8 PM at night when I finally got to audition as number 867. The judges liked my Spanish song and I got in. What made this experience even more meaningful was that my divorced parents came together every Wednesday to watch me perform, and by the sixth or seventh show, they had reconciled. I went all the way to the finals and won the show. Although I didn't receive a recording contract as a prize, this inspired me to audition for Berklee College of Music to learn songwriting. I was accepted and came to Boston in 2016, graduating in 2020. During COVID, opportunities were limited, so my first job was at a daycare where I changed diapers but also sang and played guitar for the children. After marrying my American husband, I transitioned into music education, becoming a music teacher at a Catholic elementary school and a voice teacher at Package Music School in Worcester. I later added teaching positions at Apple Tree Arts in Grafton, where I teach voice, piano, and songwriting. I've expanded my teaching to include guitar and ukulele, and I've learned so much from my students, especially improving my piano skills by teaching them. I was promoted to Community Engagement Manager at Package Music School, where I create programs for children in public schools who cannot afford private music lessons. Recently, I wrote the soundtrack for a film called Senales about preventing femicide and domestic violence in Panama, which will be released in August. The song is called No Celastima, meaning you don't hurt someone you love.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Brenda
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I read in a book that whatever you're doing, whether it's music or any profession in the world, even if people think that you're not good enough, you have to keep doing it. You have to prove them that you actually can do it well. You need to believe in yourself, first of all, that you're gonna do it well, no matter how many times you're gonna fail. Music takes a lot of discipline and practice, but you have to keep practicing and being very persistent and consistently doing the same practice over and over again until you get it better. I tell my students the same thing. When they have stage fright and butterflies in their stomach, that's actually a good sign because when one day you don't feel those butterflies inside your stomach, that means that you don't care about music anymore. I teach them to take a deep breath and imagine when they exhale, those butterflies flying away from their belly, saying goodbye to the butterfly until they finish their performance. Having confidence to do anything is really important, especially with your music. Even if you perform and it wasn't your good day and you cracked your voice and people didn't clap and they think you sang awfully, you need to think that you did well. You have to keep going and demonstrate them, I can do it better, and keep going many times over and over again until you get to the point that people say, oh, she can really do better. A good musician doesn't only sing or perform good music. They need to tell the story, make the audience feel and believe the story you're telling them, or they're not going to believe that you're doing a great job.
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