ABOUT ME
Toronto-born, independent artist, singer-songwriter and producer, SENAIDA is a two-time national finalist of the Canadian Music Competition and has received 2nd place at the International Elite Music Competition. Her music incorporates indie pop, alternative, classical, jazz and electronic music to create a unique sound. She released her debut EP, "First Love" in July 2020.
She has performed at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City as well as Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts, Nathan Phillips Square, the Burdock, nookFest and was one of the fifteen finalists for Markham Star Search. She is the founder of the Youth Showcase Concert Series in Downtown Markham, an annual summer music festival that promotes local musicians under the age of 25. In July 2019, she participated in Berklee College of Music’s Two-Week Summer Performance Program in Valencia, Spain. In February 2019, she won the Markham Teen Arts Council ‘48 to Create’ competition with her original song, “Honest”, which was about victims of bullying finding the courage to stand up for themselves. As well, she was a finalist in the WE REPRESENT 2019 Creative Competition with her original song, “Dream”, which was based on the story of Chinese-Canadian activist, Jean Lumb and she was also one of ten finalists in the Roy Thomson Hall & Massey Hall Youth Composition Competition. She was a finalist in She's The One Canada 2020 and had the opportunity to perform at Ottawa Bluesfest.
During her high school years, Senaida attended Havergal College in Toronto, Canada where she received the Ancerl Prize for Leadership in Music and was the co-head of the senior choir. She also studied classical piano at the Royal Conservatory’s prestigious Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists and jazz piano at Humber College Community Music School. She has studied with numerous teachers including Joe Johnson, Michael Berkovsky, Li Wang, Brian Rudolf, Lorne Lofsky and Spiro Kizas. She has participated in local competitions and music festivals, where she earned numerous first and second prizes. In 2018, she received her ARCT Performance Certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music with honours. She was principal pianist for the Toronto Youth Wind Orchestra from 2018-2020.
She is currently studying at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music at the Tisch School for the Arts, where she is a recipient of the Tisch Scholarship. She is also a 2020 Horatio Alger Canadian Scholar, Toronto Hakka Conference 2020 Luo Shui Hap Scholar, Jean Lumb Foundation Arts Award Recipient and recipient of the NSHSS Performing Arts: Music Scholarship.
Senaida has appeared on Salt+Light television as a host and guest artist and enjoys performing at many community events, receptions, and weddings. She is a strong advocate for mental health awareness, gender equality and representation in the music industry.
In addition to piano and singing, she also plays the Roli Blocks, alto saxophone, guitar, ukulele, trumpet, percussion, drums and is learning erhu. Her YouTube channel has over 200 000 views. Her sound is inspired by artists such as Lido, FINNEAS, Halsey, Anomalie and Sasha Sloan. She also has a music review blog, Tea n’ Tunes, where she writes music and bubble tea reviews.
