Milena Cerdas is a Costa Rican artist from Zapote, with a chemical engineering background. She has worked as a professional singer at various times in her life, a passion which has been with her for many years.
From a young age, she would take part in all the school musical activities she could. At university, she took professional singing classes with Gourgen Mkrtychian at the Academy of Modern Music in San Jose, with whom she began to adapt her lyrical technique to a broader range of styles.
Mile developed her singing, but also developed terrible stage fright, which she overcame with the help of the same teacher, thanks to her participation in regular concerts and the rigorous judgement of the Costa Rican musical world.
The moment to throw herself into the deep end came by chance, when she decided to lend her voice to a close friend to help her mark her wedding celebrations. The day was such a success that many who attended made enquiries for her services – what a great start! As a wedding singer she became much more accustomed to performing at all sorts of events and receptions, and has fond memories of this period. Keeping rock and pop as her favourite genres, she continued to grow musically, working on her passion little by little and always on the lookout for new projects. For work reasons, three years ago this Tica decided to take the plunge and make the big move to the UK, to join part of the global team at her employer; London has become her home and a great opportunity to keep growing. After a period of adapting to her new life, it became clear that living in the UK offered the chance to follow her passion, so when she got in touch with an old musical friend from school, they started making music together.
Reinvention through the Pandemic
Without doubt, the difficult circumstances of this year turned our routines and everything we thought of as normal on its head, and for Mile it put her musical project at risk, as she and her musical partner were just about to start their concerts.
“…we were just looking at venues for the concerts when the pandemic struck… we couldn’t rehearse or get together to keep making music…”
It was then, thanks to the lockdown imposed in the UK, that she decided to start recording music videos with backing tracks and put them out on social media for all to hear. The response was great, and little by little it became clear that there was an appetite for her music, and her followers would eagerly await each new release. It was thanks to this that she was recruited by the Sessions Live platform, who gave her the opportunity to increase her visibility and continue her musical growth through live online concerts. In tough times for all musicians, the platform offered support through a weekly meet up with a professional trainer to help her get the best out of the platform, reach out to new fans, and make each live performance better than the last.
“… people in the UK like to support musicians, and I really think that there is a world of opportunities to grow as an artist here…”
According to Mile, joining the portal has been a big boost, and little by little she and her husband Andrés, who is always on hand to help out, have learned to make good quality digital content. Today she performs regular live concerts to followers in the US, Costa Rica, and even Australia and New Zealand, for whom she recently performed on a schedule more suited to their time zone.
Which projects does Milena have coming up?
She will definitely continue with her day job, and in parallel continue her musical career, continuing to interact with her followers, and open to the possibility of recording her own material. Should circumstances permit, she would love to perform live in person in the UK soon, as she loves the personal contact with people it involves.
My anecdote in the UK
“Once, walking in the streets of central London with my husband and a couple of friends, we came across a busker performing in the street. They urged me to ask if he knew any of the songs I had performed, and to sing with him. I asked him and we agreed to sing “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes. We started to sing and it was brilliant, because people love music here and a few started dancing and even directing their own dance routines… from smiles and laughs from my friends to people stopping to listen and take part, it was a lovely moment of expression. “
You can find and follow Milena Cevi and all her fab content at the links below.
Instagram: @milecevimusic
Facebook: @milecevimusic
Youtube: Milena Cevi
Sessions: https://sessionslive.com/MilenaCevi
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