“I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music.”
Gaby Alegro is a singer and songwriter from Miami, Florida currently. She is an alumnus of Berklee College of Music having studied Music Production & Engineering and Vocal Performance. Influenced by artists like Tori Kelly, Thirdstory, and James Taylor, Alegro uniquely combines elements from the pop, R&B, and singer-songwriter genres in her personal style, showcased in her debut EP, "Seasons.”
Growing up in Miami, she sang in the choir at her church beginning at age 14 where her eyes were opened to the world of classical music. Through this and the influence of her mother, she was able to develop a distinct ear for harmony and learn vocal techniques that help her stand out as a singer now. She has had opportunities to share her passion for music through shows at her church, charity events, and shows at school. At her intensely academic high school, School for Advanced Studies or SAS, she was missing music as a regular part of her day and found that too many students loved music as a hobby but had no way to share their passion for it so she created the music club and played at and hosted the talent show in her senior year. She wrote and recorded the alma mater for SAS with her best friend, Kristen, in the professional studios at the school and performed it at the graduation ceremony during their junior year. Since being at Berklee, she has had the opportunity to do things like record background vocals and guitar on friends’ personal project, perform at various open mics, start bands with her close friends and play shows around Boston, perform in ensemble recitals, and much more. She had the opportunity to host a two-day songwriting and music career workshop at SEED School of Miami, perform at Carnegie Hall with her church choir, and perform at MIT for their Christmas Study Hall session. On December 4, 2017, she performed at The Red Room, a venue where big name artists like Tori Kelly, Leon Bridges, and The Fray have played.
Gaby Alegro and her band performing at The Red Room.
Vocals: Kristen Zagales, Vivian Valls, Jackson Alexander. Guitar: Billy Trone. Keys: Matt Daspit. Bass: Philip Chuah. Drums: Bas Janssen. Photo courtesy of The Red Room Berklee.
Gaby studied abroad in Valencia, Spain from January to May of 2018. During her time there, she played shows on and off the Berklee Valencia campus, including playing for and in honor of distinguished publicist Yvette Noel-Schure. While continuing to develop her instrumental and recording/mixing engineering skills, she recorded songs that to be featured on her Letters EP. She is now based in Miami and doing extensive work with the team from The Ripple Effect as well as on her own while recording and finalizing the Letters EP.
Photo by: Valerie Perez
Music was introduced to her at a very young age: her mom is a classical singer and her dad is a music enthusiast, of sorts. She comes from a Brazilian family where music is an integral part of the culture and the strongest force that brings us together. She grew up visiting her family in São Paulo where they would get together every Sunday, everyone would grab an instrument, and they would just play. Starting around 8 years old, she took a few years of piano lessons which gave her a foundation of understanding basic theory and piano-playing techniques. She began teaching herself to play guitar and writing some songs when she was 16. Learning tips and techniques about guitar from her classmates at Berklee has only accelerated her learning process and made her love and appreciate the instrument more. She’s always been passionate about the drums and was lucky enough to meet and become close to a drummer on her second day at Berklee. He taught her basics about technique and improvising and continues to help her advance as a drummer and an overall musician. Now she has been lucky enough to gain experience drumming by being a session musician for a friend’s personal project.
At Berklee, Gaby had the incredible opportunity to study under professors and visiting musicians like Livingston Taylor and India.Arie. She likes to listen to a very wide range of genres including but not limited to R&B and funk, hip-hop/rap, folk, pop, and classic rock. This has made her list of musical influences entirely too long to write here but some of the most influential artists in her music include Tori Kelly, Thirdstory, James Taylor, Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder. She’s learned a lot about songwriting, artistry, and musicianship from the people she is closest with.
ARTIST STATEMENT
As an artist, I use my music primarily as a means of expression both for myself and my listener. My writing is incredibly introspective and self-reflective but maintains a message that is relatable to anyone and generally has a lesson to be learned embedded in it. My goals as an artist and as a person are to find a means of expression and safety for myself and my listeners through my music, set an example for youth like my 10 and 11-year-old sisters, and to support myself financially with the work that is driven by my passion.
My music is very much a reflection of my personal experiences and how they made me feel. It ultimately encapsulates how I felt in a particular moment or time in my life. Every instrument, every chord, every note and lyric is some intentional expression of my mindset when I wrote it. The themes I choose, like the “seasons” theme for my debut EP, Seasons, are, similarly, a reproduction of how I felt in a larger part of my life. Each song is generally fairly specific and the themes/concepts are typically a collection of those details. Being a Brazilian-American born and raised in Miami, my cultural background is hugely influential in my style as a musician. Latin music is very rhythmic and romantic in general and both those general concepts are found in my music. Because of my parents’ diverse interests in music, I grew up around classic rock, folk, R&B, Top 40 pop, and classical music. These all have influences in my writing and, though don’t always all shine through in each song, it enables me to pull from a wide range of influences. Currently, my sound most closely relates to Tori Kelly and James Taylor.
While my music has maintained a steady influence from the aforementioned artists, I’ve been listening to more R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop/rap lately to explore the warmer, more urban sound that I love to listen to and would love to bleed into my work in order to diversify my sound and find new ways to express myself. To further my ability to write more inclusively, I’ve been practicing guitar, piano, drum set, and percussion to get more of a feel for different instruments and be able to write better parts for them so the music is more fun to write, play, and listen to for myself and others.
- G