Talented Teen Wins Spot At Berklee

Mistral Baldeo will be one of the up-and-coming artistes to perform at the inaugural COSCAP fund-raising Gala. And with good reason. This 19-year-old has been showing promise from a young age.

Mistral started playing steel pan at the age of 8 with the St. Winifreds School Steel Orchestra. She participated in the Barbadian national arts festival NIFCA with the school orchestra for a number of years before forming a duet with fellow student Jaime St. John.

Mistral performing with Spice & Company front man Alan Sheppard.

In 2005 at the age of 14, Mistral performed at NIFCA as a soloist, and was awarded the Prime Minister's Scholarship For Music that year. She later went on to the Barbados Community College where she completed her Associate Degree in Music in 2009.

During her final year at BCC, Mistral auditioned for the Berklee School of Music Summer Programme. She was selected by Terry-Lyne Carrington as 1 of 18 special students for her Jazz Workshop, and awarded a full scholarship for the summer programme.

At the completion of the Summer Programme, Berklee offered her a partial scholarship valued at US $20,000.00 a year to return to Berklee in 2010 to pursue a degree in Performance and Jazz Composition.