I have known Barbara for at least 15 years - we have grown up in the same village in Tuscany. Same places, same people, same urgency to find a way out.
Although we moved to different places (she went to Spain and myself in the United Kingdom), she has a special place in my heart, not only for the common grounds we shared. She’s an incredible artist and musician.
So this is not an interview (yet), but an introductive article where you can find essential information about Bárbara Calypso.
So one day, when she is famous, she could read about her in 2023 with a smile… I genuinely wish you so.
Barbara Cristina Bernardeschi, also known as Bárbara Calypso, is a versatile artist based in Spain. Born in 1989 in São Paulo, Brazil, she moved to Tuscany, Italy, where she spent her entire adolescence.
Barbara is an artist who believes that music and art are therapeutic.
Her journey as an artist is a testament to her diverse talents and influences, encompassing singing, painting, illustration, dance, multi-instrumentalism, music therapy, and tattoos.
In love with painting since childhood, Barbara attended intense training at the Russoli Artistic High School in Pisa, Italy, and later continued her artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara, Italy, where she explored her passion for visual arts.
With a Modern Jazz and Contemporary Dance background, Barbara spent 14 years honing her dance skills. She crowned her dance journey with a year of training at the Opus Ballet of Florence, Italy. Following this, she graduated and moved to Barcelona, Spain, after winning a scholarship in 'Restoration' at the Taller Chroma in Cataluña.
In Barcelona, Barbara ventured into artistic practices that profoundly changed her: she experimented with Live Painting and Tattoo Making, adding new dimensions to her creative repertoire. Additionally, in Barcelona, she discovered her love for the world of music and the electric guitar, expanding her artistic horizons even further.
Her music is an energetic and emotional mix of neo-soul, funky, bossa nova, and reggae.
But her talent is getting noticed in Spain!
Her mother encouraged her to audition for the famous Spanish TV program "La Voz 2023", where she is now one of the talents. She would never have imagined being on television, but she feels she is at a stage in life where she is willing to try something new.
She won the first prize Laguna Music Video Contest of Asociacion Promusic, and started to collaborate with influential musicians of the Jazz scene of the Canary Islands:
Kike Perdomo (saxophonist), with whom he released his first single, "Nobody can stop me now" (2021);
Awa Fall, aka Sista Awa (reggae singer), with whom he made "Mujer" (2020), a song that condemns the abuses against women;
Daniele Catalucci, aka Duncan Tucano (bassist), with whom he made "Mariposa" (2022) and "Bluebird" (2021);
Carlos Pérez (drummer), with whom he created "Tierra y Fuego" (2022) for the global music community Sofar Sound;
David Quevedo (pianist) for the concert in the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Gran Canaria (2022).
She's part of Takeo Music, a team of producers who manage musical and artistic events in the most important halls, theatres and cultural centres of the Canarian archipelago: World Music Sessions (Tenerife), Up&Down Festival ( Puerto De La Cruz), Equipo Para (Tenerife), Música per Ukraina (Tenerife), Festival Tropicalia (Tenerife), Festival Jazz Ría (Galicia), Club Clavicémbalo (Galicia) and Festival Calufo (Fuerteventura).
For the past four years, Barbara has been living in Tenerife, but she’s now based in Madrid, where she performs with her musical project.