Meet Natalia Lacrête of Miami, FL

Today we’d like to introduce you to Natalia Lacrête

Natalia, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It’s actually pretty ironic how I got into Music. Sometimes I tell people, I didn’t choose Music. Music chose me.

In 1998, when I was 4, I had an accident where a glass table shattered and sliced the tendon of my right pinky. Ow, right? After that accident, it was difficult to straighten my pinky. When I would try to straighten it, it would hurt. Physical therapy was brutal, but of course, it was necessary to keep the mobility in my right pinky and to prevent it from remaining bent. Growing up, I was that kid that played outside and played sports. From 6 to 7, I did Gymnastics, Tap, and Jazz. I loved Gymnastics, especially. During that time, my Dad said that he was going to also put me in Piano. I was confused because it was so random, at least to me. I was thinking “Where did he get Piano from?”. Years later, I was told that my Dad saw my future Piano teacher, Inda Gonzalez’s car on the highway with an advertisement for Piano lessons. I was also told that Piano was also going to help straighten my pinky. At this point, my pinky was able to straighten, but it still hurt a little to do so, so it was still a little bent. After I attended my first lesson, I determined that I didn’t really like Piano. I would create an excuse every week not to go to the Piano lesson (I’m sick, I have a headache, etc.), haha. My parents still took me to my Piano Lesson, though, because they knew I was faking it most of the time. I didn’t practice. I just wasn’t interested in playing the Piano. A month goes by, and 4 men, part of a delivery service, show up to my house with a Kawaii Upright Piano. So now, I had a Piano at home. My Dad had bought a Piano for me to practice on. So, Piano was pretty much a done deal haha. Both of my parents worked and their schedules made it difficult to take me to all of my activities, and no one else could take me, so I had to stop Gymnastics, Tap, and Jazz. They kept me in Piano, though (The one activity that I did not want to do). Well, that one activity that I didn’t want to do, I continued participating in it, and it ended up affecting my whole life in a very positive way.

During Elementary School at Winston Park Elementary School from 1999 to 2005, I joined different music after school programs (Choir, Flute Ensemble, MTM – Miami Trash Machine, which was a Percussion ensemble where we played on different trash cans/barrels). There were also talent shows that I would participate in, singing. During the school day, there was Music class and I would show my class what I knew on Piano, and I think that interested my Music teacher Mr. Swenson because in the 5th grade, he created a ‘Music Student of the Month’ and he chose me to be awarded that. Clearly, Music was starting to be a thing for me. I was also in the newspaper for making honor roll for academics in the first grade back in 2000.

For middle school, my Dad wanted me to attend a school for Piano, but I wanted to go to the middle school where all of my friends were going to (McMillan Middle School), which was part of the feeder pattern that our Elementary School was a part of. I didn’t want to go to school for Music. I thought that I would just continue to play Piano as an extracurricular activity. My Dad researched what middle schools were the best for studying Music and saw that Southwood Middle School was a top magnet school for performing arts in Miami. My Dad believes that if you’re going to study something, you should attend the best school for that. I auditioned for Southwood in 2005. When I got my decision letter, it said that I didn’t get accepted, and I was sad about that, which made no sense because I didn’t want to go to the school in the first place. It was later found out that I was actually put on the waitlist and I was the next in line. Fast forward to the school year, and I was now attending Southwood Middle School for Piano. The teacher for Piano was Sharlene Rose. During Middle School, if you were especially in the performing arts magnet, you had to choose another music elective, so I chose Choir. The teacher for choir was Deborah Mar. Every year we would participate in concerts, competitions, and music festivals for both Piano and Choir. For Piano, every year we had to go to either Coral Park High School and/or the University of Miami to get evaluated. What that meant was you performed memorized pieces in front of judges and they would evaluate your playing and give you a score (Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, Superior), along with their critiques. From 6th to 8th grade, I got straight Superiors. For choir, a memorable competition that we went to every year was either in Tampa, Florida or Orlando, Florida. After the competition, we would drive to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Those were great times. We also won a lot of competitions. In Middle School, I also played sports. I was a part of the Flag Football team at school, and outside of school, I was a part of a Soccer Team called Miami Strike Force. I was also a part of the National Honor Society, which I later became the Vice President of in the 8th grade.

For high school, this time I wanted to attend a performing arts school, and that was Coral Reef Senior High School. It was a top magnet school for performing arts in Miami. It also had other magnet programs other than the performing arts. My Dad researched which high schools were the best to study Music at and saw that New World School of the Arts was also a top school for performing arts, especially for Choir. He wanted me to go there. I didn’t want to go to New World because at the time it was a school in Downtown Miami strictly for performing arts. There were no sports or pep rallies. I wanted to go to a high school where I could have the high school experience. I auditioned for New World, anyways, and Coral Reef in 2008. I didn’t get accepted to New World for choir, but I got accepted to Coral Reef for Piano, which was okay with me because I wanted to go to Coral Reef. I was so happy. I later found out that out of 234 students who auditioned for Coral Reef, only 12 were chosen for the Piano strand. Fast forward to the school year, I was now attending Coral Reef Senior High School as a part of the Visual and Performing Arts Academy for Piano. I loved high school. I did everything that I wanted to do. I was studying Music, I was a part of sports teams (Soccer and Track), and I was a part of Honor Societies (National Honor Society and Tri-M, which was the Music Honor Society). Outside of high school, I briefly took Vocal lessons as an extracurricular activity. I had to stop lessons, though because I was doing a lot of activities at school and there were schedule conflicts. For Piano, we performed 2 to 4 concerts a year, and sometimes they would be in collaboration with the Drama strand and Choir strand. So, we would perform in musical theatre shows and choir shows, too. The teacher for the Piano strand was Alan Caves and the teacher for the Choir strand was John Rose. As part of community service, we had the opportunity to play Piano at homes for the elderly, so I volunteered to play Piano at retirement/nursing homes a few times while I was in high school. We also participated in Piano competitions with some of them being in Jacksonville, Florida at the University of North Florida. After those competitions, on our way back to Miami, we would stop in Orlando, Florida and go to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, just like in middle school. That was always a fun time with friends. We also had Piano evaluations every year, going to the University of Miami and performing memorized pieces that we had worked on for months. From the 9th grade to the 12th grade I also got straight Superiors just like how I did in middle school. I also got to participate in choir competitions in different states and in my junior year, we actually won 1st place in Los Angeles, California in 2011 and were presented the award at the Disney Concert Hall (A few hours before the awards ceremony we were actually able to go to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.). The summer before my sophomore year was when I got my first music gig. I was asked to sing vocals on a college students’ song that they were recording for an album. That was a good experience. I and 2 other classmates from the Choir strand went to the studio at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus to record a song by Gizel Jimenez who actually happened to be a Coral Reef V.P.A. Alum a couple years before I started at Coral Reef. My sophomore year of high school was when I realized playing the Piano was my passion. Junior year was when I discovered how cool it was to play in a band. For the Spring Concert of my Junior year, instead of playing a solo classical piano piece, I chose to learn a pop song by ear (Katy Perry’s “E.T.”) on the Piano, and asked a vocalist from the Choir strand to sing it. When we were doing soundcheck, one of my classmates from the Piano strand who also played drums asked if I wanted to add drums to the song. I was curious as to how it would sound, so we played the song with drums. It sounded really cool. Then, there was a student from the Orchestra strand who played Bass who was walking through the halls with his Electric Bass, and my classmate from Piano suggested that Electric Bass would sound good in the song. I also thought it could sound interesting. I asked the student if he wanted to play in my performance for the Spring Concert and he happily agreed. We tried the song with Electric Bass and it sounded so cool to me. I decided to add Drums and Electric Bass to the song and as the final result, I ended up performing my part of the show with a full band (Piano, Voice, Drums, and Electric Bass) instead of a duet (Piano and Voice). That’s when I saw how interesting performing with a band was.

For all of my musical life up until that point, I focused mainly on Classical music. I was a Classically-trained Pianist. Most of my concerts/competitions pertained to Classical music, so I didn’t really have that much time to learn other genres of music like Contemporary (Pop, Film Score, Jazz, etc.). When I did have time, it was during the holiday breaks. That’s when I would teach myself all different kinds of music, especially music from films like Pirates of the Caribbean. That music was one of my favorites to learn when I was in middle school and high school. It wasn’t until towards the end of high school, junior/senior year that I started to have more time to learn Contemporary music and write music of my own, which were Ballads.

I wanted to continue to pursue Music after high school. For college, I wanted to attend the University of Miami for Piano Performance because U.M. was a college that I could do everything that I was doing in high school. I would’ve been able to study music, while also participating in sports, and clubs/honor societies; Have the full college experience. My Dad researched what were the best colleges to study Music at (Remember, my Dad believes that if you’re going to study something, you should go to the best school for that.), and saw that Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts was the number 1 school in the world for Contemporary Music. He wanted me to apply there, but I didn’t want to attend Berklee. I didn’t want to attend Berklee because when I was 14 in the 9th grade, I was participating in a choir competition in Boston, and we got the chance to tour Berklee and Harvard. I didn’t like how Berklee was not a campus. The buildings were scattered across the city. The school also didn’t have sports. However, I still applied because I made a deal with my Dad to apply to Berklee and New York University (He also wanted me to go there). As you see, my Dad was really involved in my schooling, which I appreciated a lot, actually, even if we had different views on what schools to go to. I ended up applying/auditioning for 3 schools (University of Miami, Florida State University, and Berklee College of Music; I didn’t apply to NYU because they didn’t have the major that I wanted to pursue). U.M. and F.S.U. required S.A.T. scores to be a part of your application, and they had specific scores that they required, which were listed on their websites. They stated that if your scores didn’t meet the scores listed, then your application would most likely be rejected. I knew my scores met the minimum for any college in Florida, but I knew they weren’t the scores that were listed on U.M. and F.S.U. ‘s website. I submitted them, anyway. I submitted them to Berklee, too, even though they weren’t required for the application to their school. With U.M. and F.S.U., you have to get into the school in general before you can get accepted to any of their schools of music. So, if you did really well on your audition, but your S.A.T. scores didn’t meet the requirements, your application may be rejected. You wouldn’t get a separate decision from the school of music. It would just be a general decision from the university. For both U.M. and F.S.U., my auditions went really well, but I know my scores were not what was listed on their websites. So, that may have been a main factor for the end result. Out of the 3 schools that I applied/auditioned for, I got accepted to only 1. Can you guess which one that was?…*Ding ding ding* You’re correct, Berklee College of Music (The school that I did not want to go to, but was the top school for music haha). There’s a saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plan.” I really had in my mind the University of Miami, but the Universe wanted something else for me. I was not mad at that option at all. I remember when I got my acceptance letter. I was actually on the way to a Piano competition, and my Dad was about to drive me to school to take the bus with my classmates to Jacksonville where the competition was. I just happened to check my e-mail before leaving the house, and I saw that Berklee sent me my decision letter. When I opened it and read it, I was screaming of joy, “Woo-hoo! I got into Berklee College of Music!” (Ironic, right? Haha). I let my Dad know, and he was jumping and screaming of joy, too, saying “Yes!” Haha. (My Mom was at work, but I called her after, and she was happy and excited, as well). That was a proud moment for me.

In June 2012, I graduated Cum Laude from the Visual and Performing Arts Academy for Piano from Coral Reef Senior High School, and 2 weeks after graduating high school, I was already starting college. I was given the option to hold my spot at Berklee College of Music for a year. I was told that the semester that I was supposed to be entering (Fall 2012), a lot of people were going to be entering that semester as well, so basically enrollment was going to be over capacity, but I could attend in the Spring of 2013. I chose to take that opportunity to hold my spot for a year from January 2013 to January 2014 and take my prerequisites and get my Associate’s Degree for Music at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus. It would save me money and I would be able to get my prerequisites out of the way. That way, when I attended Berklee, it was mainly a conservatory for me. Meaning, I would be taking strictly music courses/studying what pertained specifically to my major. Since Berklee was an expensive school, I wanted to learn as much as I could in performance and business, so I made sure to be smart with my time. At Miami Dade, I completed a 2-year Associate’s degree in 1 and a semester (June 2012 to December 2013), since I had to be out by January 2014. I had to take 18 to 19 credits a semester to make my deadline. That was crazy (I do not recommend), but it had to be done, and it was done. Miami Dade at the time was also the only Berklee International Networking (B.I.N.) school in Florida. So, it being 15 minutes away from my house was convenient. It being a B.I.N. school meant that I could transfer up to 60 credits (A full Associate’s Degree) to Berklee. Since I was already accepted to Berklee, it made transferring many credits more possible. Miami Dade has a great music program and overall, quality education at the school. I performed in concerts, accompanied other instrumentalists/vocalists in their concerts, participated in competitions, I was in the choir (Civic Chorale led by Kenneth Boos), and I was also a part of the National Honor Society (Phi Theta Kappa). I attended Miami Dade College Kendall Campus for Piano. The Piano department had a few teachers teaching there. My Piano teacher was Kevin Wayne Bumpers and my Piano Accompanist teacher was Virginia Covarrubias. In December 2013, I graduated Cum Laude with my Associate of Arts in Music.

I went to Berklee in Spring and Fall of 2014. The Piano department at Berklee had a lot of teachers teaching there. My Piano teachers those two semesters were Neil Olmstead and Tim Ray.
There was a period of time (January 2015 to December 2016) where I decided to go back to Miami to take general electives at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus because I still had those to complete as part of my degree at Berklee. They were cheaper to take them at Miami Dade, and I was able to transfer them back to Berklee. I remembered the people that helped with that transfer credit process, Camille Colatosti (Former Dean of Student Affairs), Kathryn Hencir (Advisor), and Deidre Bairstow-Allen (Former Director of Financial Aid). Thank you to all of you for your help with making sure my credits transferred to Berklee. I started working at Miami Dade’s Music Department Office as a Student Employee, during that time, as well. When I was first getting my Associate’s, I used to hang out at the Music Department’s Office a lot after class and help out if they needed help creating music programs for upcoming concerts or if they needed help organizing documents because there were nice people that worked there and they were nice to talk to. I remember it was Kathleen Rouzier (Secretary), Joann Tomlin (Clerk), Bertie Gonzalez (Secretary), and Rodester Brandon (Former Chair of the Music Department). Since they already knew me, knew that I was helpful, and that I knew a majority of how things worked at the Music Department’s Office, they hired me. Thank you all for your work at Miami Dade, helping with the behind the scenes of concerts, and thank you for the good conversations.
While I completed my elective requirements, I wanted to learn a new instrument, and that’s where Drum Set/Percussion came about. I was still doing what I was doing at Miami Dade when I was there for my Associate’s, participating in concerts and competitions. I actually won 2nd place in the 2016 Miami Dade College Piano Sonata Competition. This time, I picked up a new instrument. In the second year that I was home, I started to take Drum set lessons at Miami Dade. I also put myself in Percussion Ensembles, and I would put myself to play Percussion in the orchestras and bands, along with playing Piano for them. In a Percussion Ensemble taught by Clifford Sutton, who was also my Drum set teacher, he was teaching us about Uruguayan Music, specifically Candombe. On the first day of class, there were instruments placed in a line in the classroom. Without saying the names of the instruments, our teacher asked my classmates and I to choose one, and whatever we chose, that would be the instrument that we would play in the Ensemble. I chose a big drum. After we all chose an instrument, our teacher told us the name of each one. Do you know what the name of the drum that I chose was? “Piano”. Can you believe that? Haha. Piano was the name of the drum that I chose. Clearly, Piano is just meant to be in my life. Other groups that I was a part of were the Miami Dade College Film Score Orchestra conducted by Alberto Bade and the Miami Dade College Wind Symphony conducted by Brian Neal. A memorable performance was when I had the opportunity to perform at the Pinecrest Gardens Banyan Bowl in October 2016 playing an arrangement of Frankenstein from the composer Philip Collins. I was the Pianist for that performance and I had a solo during the 3rd movement. It was an exciting experience and the performance was great. Part of the silent film of Frankenstein was being played on a projector in the background as we were performing. I also played Percussion for a few other pieces that we were performing that night, and the pieces were from videogames/movies. There were also videos of scenes from the movies/videogames being shown behind the orchestra as we were performing. I would put myself in those situations playing both Piano and Percussion in ensembles/orchestras/bands because I really liked to play Percussion and I wanted to learn. The only way I was going to learn was by just jumping in the deep end of the pool. I loved what I did. I was playing my principal instrument, Piano, but I was also feeding a new skill. Those two years, I feel I really grew as a Musician. I gained more experience and I learned new things, which I think was/is very beneficial for me.

I returned to Berklee in the Spring of 2017 and I was there for Spring, Summer, and Fall. My Piano teachers those semesters were Hey Rim Jeon (Spring and Fall) and Jason Yeager (Summer). My Piano Lab teacher for Afro-Cuban Montunos was Rebecca Cline and my Piano Lab teacher for Sight-reading was Robert Christopherson.
When I returned, I took the skills that I had both gained and strengthened with me and acted upon them. I felt I grew more as a musician when I returned. I felt my playing on the Piano grew. I put myself in an orchestra playing Percussion (Audire Soundtrack Choir and Orchestra – We performed at the Berklee Performance Center at the end of Spring). I learned more about Percussion. I took a lot of Percussion courses where I learned more about Cuban music, South American music, African music, and Indian music (Those classes were taught by Mike Ringquist, Leo Blanco, and Jerry Leake). I joined a Brazilian Drum Group called “Grooversity” led by Marcus Santos (We performed all over Massachusetts and Rhode Island – We were on t.v. performing at the oldest 4th of July parade in the United States “233rd Bristol, Rhode Island 4th of July Parade”). I played Percussion in a Caribbean band called Safiya and Friends led by Safiya Leslie. I performed in my first Caf Show. The main highlight(s) of 2017 was that I performed in so many Hurricane Benefit Relief Concerts. The first one that I played in, I wrote the melody and bridge to a song I had co-written with the band (Safiya and Friends) that I was performing with, called “New Nation”. I also wrote a verse in Haitian-Creole and sang it, while playing the Piano. That concert meant a lot to me because that was my way of giving back to part of where I’m from, which is Florida, and I’m half-Haitian. In general, I performed those concerts to give back to everyone that was affected by the Hurricanes. I was honored to have had those opportunities to perform for a cause, such as that. I played Piano and Percussion in the first one, but the rest of them, I played Percussion. I loved what I did and Fall 2017 was one of my hardest-working semesters in regards to performances. Every week there was a gig. I’ve also had opportunities to play for people such as the Prime Minister of Dominica, the Governor of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Ambassador. In the summer, I was hired as a Resident Assistant for the Berklee 5-Week Summer Performance Program. My responsibility included acting as a guide/resource for residents if they had questions about Berklee College of Music or about Music in general. I was also assigned a group of residents and I was responsible for creating programs for them to participate in that promoted community-building. Those were young residents who were just about to start applying to college/about to attend college/currently attending college who were interested in attending Berklee. They chose to do the 5-Week Summer Performance Program because it was a program that gave them the chance to have the Berklee experience by living in the dorms and taking classes at Berklee. They got to learn about Berklee, learn about the curriculum at Berklee, and even play in a concert at the end of the program. If they passed the classes and they ended up going to Berklee, then they would not have to take those classes while attending Berklee. If residents were unsure of where to go or who to speak to, regarding classes or financial aid, or if they had questions about what it was like to apply, audition, and then attend Berklee, they asked me and I was able to explain to them where to go, who to speak to, or how my experience was applying/auditioning/attending Berklee. That summer was a rewarding experience for me because I had the chance to be helpful. I believe that if you’re in a certain role, like being a Musician, you should try to help the next generation of Musicians. If you can help someone, why not? If you’re where someone is trying to get to, and you already know how the process goes, regarding applying/auditioning for music school, why not help guide them to the proper resources in order to get to where they need to get to?
2017 was great, and I did all of those things while keeping my academics intact. I was put on the Dean’s List every semester in 2017.

Spring 2018 was my last semester for Berklee Boston and I was accepted to study abroad at the Berklee Valencia Campus in Valencia, Spain. There, I got to learn about Flamenco Music, Mediterranean Music, and learn about the culture of Spain (We took a trip to Granada, Spain and learned about the origins of Flamenco – trip led by Catalina Millán). The Flamenco Music class was taught by Sergio Martinez and the Mediterranean Music class was taught by Cristobal Vogúmil. I had the opportunity to play in the Berklee Showcase VIII at Veles E Vents in front of Grammy-award winning Musicians like Patrice Rushen. I recorded Percussion (Cajón) in the studio at Berklee Valencia for a song that was released on all music streaming platforms called “Jay” written by a couple of classmates, Sarah Khatami and Zenon. I recorded Piano and Percussion for a few other classmates’ projects, which some were also released on all music streaming platforms. I also had the opportunity to go with some classmates to Madrid, Spain for the Madrid Music Industry Trip led by Max Moya. For the Music Industry Trip, we visited and met people involved in La Casa Encendida, Live Nation, composing Music, Festival ‘Una Mirada Diferente’, and Universal Music Group. In May 2018, I was chosen to be the Percussionist for the Berklee 2018 Commencement Concert, which was at the Agganis Arena in Boston, MA (That’s where the Commencement Ceremony was also held). It gave me the opportunity to perform with Rosanne Cash, and play music for Nile Rodgers and Esperanza Spalding. On May 12, 2018, I graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts with my Bachelor of Music in Professional Music (Concentrations in Performance and Music Business) and a Minor in Performance Studies in Latin Music. My Principal Instrument was Piano.

After I graduated in May 2018, I had the opportunity to play Percussion in a few Berklee Global Jazz Institute Master students’ Final Thesis Projects, and a few were released on all music streaming platforms. One of those projects was recently released. It is called “Yavia” and the project is by my Fiancé, Sebastian Kuchczyński. We actually met at Berklee Boston a few months before that project was recorded haha. In May 2018, I was also hired as a Studio Assistant for the Berklee Studios. My responsibility was to assist with the studio sessions that were taking place during the summer. Jeanine Cowen (At the time was a Professor for the Film Scoring Department) had let me know about the job. I thought the job could be interesting, but I let her know that I wasn’t a Music Production major (Only those majors could apply for that job) and didn’t know that much about music technology. I was then hired on the spot, even after she knew all of that haha. She let me know that she would hire me to be the Studio Assistant because she saw that when I was interacting with people in a prior studio session that I was playing Percussion in, I was being nice, encouraging everyone and saying thank you to everyone after the session finished, including the people that helped set-up the studio session (i.e. Studio Engineers – She was one of them, and Studio Assistants). She saw that I was this positive, outgoing person, and she thought that I could bring that positivity to the future studio sessions haha. Thank you Jeanine for the opportunity to learn more about setting up a studio for a recording session and learn more about music technology. After that job was over, I was then hired as a Summer Operations Assistant for the Berklee 5-Week Summer Performance Program. It’s similar to the Resident Assistant role, except you are not assigned a group of residents. You are more in a supervisory role of the resident assistants, and you have more responsibilities like approving/denying curfew release forms, contacting parents, and escorting residents to the hospital. That was still a fun summer. I liked the job. I had great co-workers who supported me at my concerts. There were talented residents (There are always talented residents at the 5-Week program) who performed a great show at the end of the program. I had a lot of concerts, studio sessions, and gigs that I was participating in. The sun was shining a lot in Boston, and it wasn’t cold anymore haha. I went to the Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Overall, it was a good summer.

I wanted to continue studying Music, so I auditioned for the Master of Music program at the Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus, which is in Valencia, Spain. This time, I auditioned with Percussion being my Principal Instrument. In February 2019, I auditioned with Piano/Percussion (Piano is technically a Percussion instrument, so I auditioned first with Piano and then I switched to Percussion during the audition) and in April 2019, I got my acceptance letter with a scholarship to the Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration) Master’s Program at Berklee Valencia. In February 2019, I had also auditioned for a music festival in Miami, Florida called the Miami Music Festival. I auditioned with Piano, and it was for the Piano Institute at the Miami Music Festival. In March 2019 I was let known that I had been accepted to the Piano Institute for the 2019 Miami Music Festival. Since I got my acceptance letter to Berklee Valencia a month after I got my acceptance letter to the Miami Music Festival, I knew after that I would have to prepare to leave for Spain for my Master’s Program during the time of the Festival, so I decided not to attend the Festival. I was still grateful to have been accepted to the Piano Institute for the 2019 Miami Music Festival, and maybe in the future I will audition for the Festival again, and will be able to attend the Festival.

In September 2019, I left for Valencia, Spain for my Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration) Master’s Program at the Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus. The Program Director for the C.P.P.D. Master’s Program was Magda Giannikou. My Advisors were Enric Alberich and Polo Ortí. During my time at Berklee Valencia from September 2019 to July 2020, I learned a lot about Music Production and Percussion, and I also learned more about Music Business and Songwriting. The Music Production courses that I took were taught by Liz Teutsch. I learned about Pro Tools, and the different recording techniques one can use for their songs/live performances. I am now able to apply those techniques to my Performances/Productions of my original music. I learned about Afro-Cuban Music on Congas and Batá Drums (Classes taught by Yoel Paez), South American Music on Congas, Drum set, Cajón, and Auxiliary Percussion (Classes taught by Mariano Steimberg and Sergio Martinez), and Flamenco Music on Cajón (Classes taught by Sergio Martinez). I learned about exercises that can be done to help with inspiration for writing songs (It was in a Lyric Writing Class taught by Neil Diercks). I learned more about the Music Business, especially an elevator pitch (It was in a class called The Artist as a Startup taught by Paul Pacifico). I also performed a lot during my time at Berklee Valencia. I had the opportunity to participate in workshops, studio sessions, and music videos with well-known Grammy-nominated Producers/Musicians/Artists in the Music Industry such as Robert Kraft, Victor Wooten, Steve Bailey, Patrice Rushen, Koncept, and Lila Downs. I had the opportunity to be the Drummer/Percussionist for Grammy Award-Winning Composer/Producer, Robert Kraft’s Event (Live Recording Session) October 25, 2019. I had the opportunity to be the Synthesizer Player and Percussionist in Grammy Award-Winning Instrumentalist/Composer/Producer, Patrice Rushen’s Live Recording Session January 17, 2020. I had the opportunity to be the Percussionist for American Rapper, Koncept’s Keith Whitehead Live Recording/Music Video January 21, 2020, which was released on YouTube. I performed in “Latin American Music Night” at Fundación Bancaja February 7, 2020. I had the opportunity to perform in a Forum with Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey. I got to perform for other visiting artists such as Sofia Ribeiro, Odile Gakire Katese. I created my Band ‘CP3’ (Contemporary Performance Trío) and we performed an acoustic set at Lagos de Conciertos September 27, 2019. I created my Band “O.S. to N.S.” (Old School to New School) and we performed music from the 80s, 90s, and the 21st century at Radio City Valencia November 15, 2019. I joined an Irish Folk Band led by Hannah Liu. I performed for the week of Africa during Black History Month and I performed in the Black History Month Concert in two bands. I participated a lot in Master’s Thesis Projects, a couple being from my Program, and most of them being from other Programs such as Music Production, Music Business, and Film/Videogame Scoring (Some projects were released on all music streaming platforms). In my Global Rhythm Seminar Class taught by Sergio Martinez, I had the opportunity to collaborate with other musicians/dancer who are also well-known in the industry such as Panagiotis Andreou, Jose Manuel León, Jamey Haddad, Christiane Karam, Rosario Toledo, and Thaïs Morell.

Covid-19 actually hit during my Master’s Program, so from mid-March 2020 to July 2020 we could not have in-person classes. Everything went virtual via Zoom. During that time, I created my little home studio in my Spain apartment that included some borrowed equipment from school, and I composed/recorded/produced/mixed 2 songs completely remote, and one of those songs was actually a part of my Master’s Thesis, which was the last song “Son de Yon Pitit Hispañola” (To be released this year.) My home studio included a microphone, a set of Congas, a Cajón, a Keyboard, Tambourine, and Shaker. I had the opportunity to showcase a music video that I created in quarantine for my song “Take Your Blinders Off” at the First Edition of INO CON 2020. I had the opportunity to collaborate with Grammy Award-Winning Singer/Composer Lila Downs and play Percussion in an arrangement of her song “Cumbia del Mole”, which was pre-recorded remotely and shown on the day of my Commencement Ceremony July 11th, 2020 on YouTube. Since we were unfortunately not able to have an in-person Graduation, I returned to Miami at the beginning of July. On July 11th, 2020, virtually, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with my Master of Music in Contemporary Performance (Production Concentration) from the Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus. My Principal Instrument was Percussion.

After college, I released music of my own and continued to play gigs, and sometimes that meant traveling to different countries like Poland. After my Bachelor’s and before my Master’s, I actually traveled to Tarnów, Poland in October (2018), and had the opportunity to play Percussion in the 11th Annual Tarnów Jazz Festival with a band called Gravity Jazz Collective led by Sebastian Kuchczyński. After my Master’s, I released two songs that were a part of my Master’s Thesis “Versatility” on August 28th and August 30th (My Birthday) of 2020. They were an Instrumental Ballad named “Night Vibes” and a Pop song named “Take Your Blinders Off”. The pandemic made it impossible for Musicians to perform live, so there wasn’t a lot of gigging from 2020 towards the beginning of 2022. In the Summer of 2021, I was hired again as a Summer Operations Assistant for the Berklee 5-Week Summer Performance Program at the Berklee College of Music Boston Campus.
I have always wanted to make an impact in the community of my hometown, Miami, and contribute to making a positive difference. So, towards the end of 2021, I chose to work at a non-profit. The non-profit was called Miami Music Project, and it gave students the opportunity to learn music through youth orchestras. I was the Site Manager for the Little Haiti Chapter (Toussaint L’Ouverture Elementary School) from December 2021 to June 2023. What was very important to me was being a resource/guide for the kids who participated in the program, in regards to if they had questions about music, or if they just needed someone to talk to. I was responsible for supervising my students, as well as my staff (Site Coordinator, Security Assistant, and Teaching Artists). I was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations at The Little Haiti Chapter (Updating data, managing projects, contacting parents/administration). Sometimes that meant speaking in 4 different languages – Creole, French, Spanish, and English. I was also responsible for participating in events and representing Miami Music Project, collaborating with the other Site Managers to choose repertoire for concerts, and one of my favorite parts – Performing as a Musician and/or being the MC for concerts. During my first 4 months there, I raised the enrollment of my Chapter by 34 percent.
Although it wasn’t easy being a Site Manager, the fulfillment you feel when you’re helping the community is priceless. It was an honor to be the Site Manager of the Little Haiti Chapter for that year and a half. It was a privilege to be a part of each student’s musical journey, watching them progress as musicians and grow as people. I wish them all the best, and I hope to see some of them as professional Musicians in the future!

In January 2023, I also started working remotely at Berklee College of Music as a Boston Admissions Interviewer. I am responsible for interviewing applicants for the Berklee College of Music Boston Campus. I also help with Co-Hosting virtual Audition and Interview Events for the Undergraduate and Graduate programs and I help with the logistics of those events via Zoom. It was/is so interesting to be on the other side of the Auditions/Interviews for Berklee. Auditioning for Berklee, twice, were the hardest auditions I have ever done in my life. The interview was chill, but the audition was not easy. I remember leaving the place where the audition was held just thinking “Wow, that audition was challenging, but you did it.” So, to be the one interviewing applicants for Berklee, especially after Graduating from Berklee twice, what a plot twist. In April 2023, I had the opportunity to perform as a Pianist and Percussionist in a concert with music written by John Patrick Stewart and produced by Grammy-Nominated Musician Trey Gunn (Guitarist for King Crimson) at Peacock Park in Miami, Florida. In July 2023, I was hired as a Residential Counselor for the Y.O.L.A. National Music Festival at the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles and Malibu, California. Y.O.L.A. stands for Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. It is a nonprofit that gives students the opportunity to participate in music through youth orchestras. So, it’s similar to Miami Music Project. My responsibilities were similar to the Resident Assistant role at Berklee, except there was a lot more responsibility and a lot of over-time because there was a lot of traveling back-and-forth from Malibu to Los Angeles. Everyone’s accomodation was at Pepperdine University, which is in Malibu. So, we would travel from there and go to different rehearsal locations and concert venues. One of my main responsibilities was to make sure everyone got to the final destination safely. One of the highlights of the festival was that we all got to see John Williams (One of my favorite 21st century American Composers) conduct the Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Jurassic World themes at the Hollywood Bowl (Those are a few of my favorite scores of his). We also got to see Gustavo Dudamel conduct a few other recognizable pieces, as well, like the theme from Schindler’s List.
From June 2023 to December 2023, I traveled back and forth a lot to Poland and performed in many concerts as a Pianist and Percussionist with top musicians from Poland with some being Fryderyk-winning/nominated (Polish Grammy) musicians, Sebastian Kuchczyński, Mateusz Smoszyński, Andrzej Święs, Andrzej Gondek, Artur Dutkiewicz, Anna Michałowska, Kuba Kotynia, Michał Iwanek, Michał Czekała, Krzysia Górniak, Angelika Jakubowska (Anozie), and many more.

In June 2023, I created my own business NATALACR. I am the sole proprietor of the business and it serves as representation for me as a Musician. So, when I go play gigs, my company represents me when a service of music is being provided for a concert or event. Usually, when Musicians play gigs, they have their company represent them because Music is a service and the transaction between a customer and a Musician is business. So, there should be representation for a Musician in that aspect via an LLC, for example. In August 2023, I wanted to continue learning about the Business side of the Music Industry, so I took a free course on Coursera given by Berklee Online and taught by E. Michael Harrington called “Copyright Law in the Music Business”. I completed a 4-week certificate course in 4 days with a perfect score of 100 on my 29th Birthday, August 30th, 2023. That was a great Birthday. I was able to refresh my knowledge of Copyright and learn new things that I didn’t know before.

My whole goal was/is to be a versatile musician. That’s why I learn(ed) to play different instruments, learn(ed) about the music business, learn(ed) about music technology, and compose music. I believe that a Musician should know about Performance, Music Technology, and Music Business. You can’t just be good at playing your instrument, especially in this day and age. You have to know different things about Music like music technology and music business in order to be successful. In the Music Industry, knowing those things can protect us Musicians because we would be fully aware of what is happening on stage, in the studio, and/or in our contracts.

I love to learn. I love school. I am constantly reading and learning about different things, especially in Music to educate myself more, which helps me grow more as a Musician and as a person. I may go back to school to get my Doctorate of Musical Arts (D.M.A.). Who knows, maybe it’ll be at the University of Miami, haha. Wherever I go, I will be able to learn more about Music. You can learn something new every day about a subject, even if you’ve been studying that subject for 20 plus years. This world has so many things to learn, and if you have the opportunity to learn, why not take advantage of that and learn as much as you can?

So, in the end, everything came back full circle. I started learning something that I didn’t want to learn, then I ended up loving it, went to school for it, and made a career out of it. I have been playing the Piano for more than 24 years now, singing for about the same amount of time, and playing Percussion for 9 years. Oh, and Piano did help my right pinky. I can now straighten my right pinky fully without it hurting, and it is strong. I am a Musician, I continue to work at Berklee as a Boston Admissions Interviewer, being an Ambassador for both the Boston and Valencia Campus, and I do some acting (I actually went to an Acting/Modeling school for 5 months as one of my extracurricular activities when I was 14 going on 15 called John Casablancas. I wanted to be an Actress, as well. In 2019, my Dad and I were casted as Extras in Bad Boys 3: Bad Boys for Lif3. In 2021, I was casted as an Audience Member for America’s Funniest Home Videos Easter Episode. In 2024, my Dad and I were casted as Extras for the prequel to the t.v. series Dexter called Dexter: Origins/Original Sin.).

I am currently getting ready to release my first E.P. “Versatility”, which is based on my Master’s Thesis that I wrote 4 years ago. It will include 2 new songs, Latin/Caribbean song named “Son de Yon Pitit Hispañola” (Sounds of a Child from Hispañola), and a RandB/Rap song called “Without You”. Born to a Father from Haiti and a Mother from Nicaragua, and both sides of my family being of Latin, Caribbean, European, African, Asian, and Native American descent, I have always been surrounded by Latin, Caribbean, European, African, Asian, and Native American music. I wanted to compose music using my experiences/skills as a Musician and the influences of my family background. I plan to release my E.P. “Versatility on October 11th, 2024.

What else should we know about you? What are you proud of? What sets you apart from others?”
I am a Pianist, Percussionist, and Vocalist. I perform in concerts/music festivals and sometimes that means traveling to different countries, with Poland being a recent country I came back from. I play in studio sessions, and I write/produce my own Music. I also do some acting and I Interview applicants for Berklee. I am currently getting ready to release my first E.P. called “Versatility” on all music streaming platforms in October (During Hispanic Heritage Month). The singles from my Project “Versatility” are meant to show who I am as an artist through 4 different pieces written in 4 different genres ranging from an Instrumental Ballad, Pop, Latin/Caribbean, and R&B/Rap. Since my background is diverse both musically and ethnically, I wanted to use the knowledge that I have to create pieces that display my versatility as a Performer, Composer, and Engineer. I’ve already released 2 songs from the E.P. (Instrumental Ballad and Pop), and you can find them on all music streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer, etc.).

I am most proud of completing the goals that I had set out to pursue these past years – Graduating college for both Undergraduate and Graduate degrees, performing in various concerts/music festivals/studio sessions throughout the years, writing, recording, producing, engineering, and releasing my own music, and overall making Music my career. Continuing to pursue my dreams of performing music and never giving up.

I believe what sets me apart from others is my personality and how I create music. As a person, I’m outgoing, ambitious, creative, and determined. As an artist, I don’t limit myself to write for only one genre of music. I experiment by writing in different genres. A lot of artists tend to stick to one genre of music. There are so many different genres of Music in the world, so why not try to learn and write something in a different genre than what you’re used to writing/performing in? In my case, I was exposed to the genres that I experiment writing in, since I was a kid. So, I thought to try my hand at writing music in those genres. I approach the writing process of music by first asking myself “What do you want to say with this song?”. From there, either Melody comes first, or Harmony, and then, I just write. Having a multicultural background helps with understanding the genre of music that you are attempting to write in, and that then leads you to write the music in the feel of the genre that it is supposed to be (Ex. Latin/Caribbean music). It also allows you to be as creative as you want when it comes to adding instruments to the song.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
Without my parents, Gerard Lacrête Jr. and Floralynn Lacrête, especially my Dad putting me in Music when I was 6 years old, I wouldn’t be a Musician today. If my Dad didn’t research the best schools for me to study Music, I would not have had the experiences that I had in school and outside of school learning, performing, and writing music. Both of my parents were/are supportive of my pursuit of Music. They were the ones to take me to auditions and concerts. I may not have said my Mom a lot in my story, but I want to make it clear that my Mom is supportive of my career, and just of me in general. She wanted me to make the best choices that were in my best interest, whether that was for school or for my career. She and my Dad wanted/wants me to be happy. My parents and my two younger Brothers, Christian-Laurent Lacrête and Sebastien-Olivier Lacrête, were the people who showed up to my concerts when I first started doing Music, and they continue to attend my concerts to this day. I appreciate their support a lot. A big thank you to them for always being there for me. It’s important in general for your family to show up. Seeing your family in the audience is the biggest support a creative can get. I also want to thank my first Piano teacher, Inda Gonzalez. She taught me a skill that ended up changing my whole life. Thank you for teaching me Piano for the first 12 years of my music journey. Thank you to all of the teachers I have had, especially music teachers. I learned something from each one of you. Finally, I want to thank every person who gave me an opportunity to perform, record, and/or write music for concerts, events, studio sessions, and/or releases. I want to also thank all of the photographers who took photos of me at concerts/events/studio sessions that I have performed in.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/natalialacrete
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missmusician12/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MISSMUSICIAN12
• Twitter: https://x.com/MISSMUSICIAN12
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@natalialacrete5301
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/natalia-lacrete
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4bzyr0ptuomuZxHoqKpxZx?si=PtZmtTN6RBmyyNSBwNARkA

Image Credits
(Starting with personal photo and then the rest of the photos left to right)

1. La Fotoescuela – Paula Lorenzo
2. Natalia Lacrete – NATALACR
3. Sebastian Kuchczynski
4. Floralynn Lacrete
5. Natalia Lacrete
6. Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus
7. Berklee College of Music Valencia Campus
8. Miny Robimy
9. Centrum Kultury Izabelin
10. Sydney Liberman
11. Sergi Alexander – Eyeworks Productions