Mia Verdoorn

Mia was born and raised in Pretoria, South Africa and lived there until she reached the age of 19. She left South Africa to pursue her career in music further at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Her musical training whilst at high school at St. Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria consisted mainly of Classical piano and more contemporary voice lessons, but she branched out to more styles since attending Berklee such as Jazz, Blues, Soul, Latin, Pop/Rock. She worked with a prominent producer and judge of the South African version of the popular reality television show “American Idol” (called “Idols” in South Africa) on the start of a possible Afrikaans album in 2007, but then got accepted to Berklee. Her declared majors for the completion of her 5 year degree at Berklee are Vocal Performance and Music Business. She is currently in her 7th semester at Berklee. In addition to being a performer, Mia is also a songwriter and holds regular performances in her hometown of Pretoria whenever returning home for breaks.
Mia’s main goal whilst at Berklee is to use all the possible resources it offers to the greatest extent. With so many great opportunities for students, her time there has been nothing but a great adventure. Some of her most prominent musical influences are: Sarah Bareilles, Erin McCarley, Paolo Ntini, James Morrisson, Brooke Fraser, Diana Krall, Sia, Just Jinger, Amos Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, The Rescues and John Mayer.