MIMAI REBORN

ROCK ME AMADEUS…
When you are surrounded by opera singers in the family while you are growing up, people
expect you to end up just like them…classical. You tend to be swallowed by the endless
vocalizations, breathing techniques and broken glasses just to reach the highest note.

Well, not for this young lady Mimai!

Michelle Clarisse Esguerra Adriano, or simply Mimai, was born in a family of classical
royalties. Her grandmother is a coloratura soprano and her father was a tenor. For her part,
Mimai was into the performing arts, starting as early as 7 years old with ballet and piano lessons.
In high school, she became a part of St. Scholastica’s College Glee Club. This is where she
further honed her artistic prowess by writing scripts and performing for the theatre. When we
talk of theatre, she was into Shakespeare and all, heavy and never light. Indeed, there is no other
route Mimai may tread but go classical, too. Or so everyone thought.

“SAVE ME FROM THE NOTHING I’VE BECOME…” Evanescence

Mimai, like any young person, was hungry for her own identity, something which she would
grasp as her own, not because it was jus sanguine but because it was who she is. She wanted to
create a different Mimai persona and look where she found it…

Pink. Evanescence. Paramore. Alanis Morissette. Sevendust. Pearl Jam. Metallica. These
pop and rock icons brought Mimai to life. Yes, they “called her name and saved her from the
dark!” Her 5-year stint with the De La Salle University Pops Orchestra as a vocalist in 2004
opened her eyes, mind and heart to the pop rock genre. She found it fits her like second skin.
Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” and “My Immortal” uncovered her personality and style
waiting to see the light. Simultaneously, her being a part of a pop orchestra led her to delve into
the pop genre, belting Beyonce’s “Listen,” Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing,” and Jennifer
Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You.” With her stay in the orchestra, she was able to polish her
vocal range and develop her stage presence.

Her previous experience with theatre landed her in Theater Down South (TDS) under the
directorship of renowned director Michael Williams. Here, she became a part of productions like
Treasure Island, The Princess and the Red Carp as well as the Midsummer Night’s Dream.
In 2010 to 2012, she also tried vocal coaching and stage performance for singers at the Center for
Pop Music Philippines. At the Center for Pop, she helped develop the confidence of the other
aspiring singers.
“These wounds won’t seem to heal. The pain is just too real. There’s just too
much that time cannot erase…” Evanescence

Mimai is one person not to be taken as shallow. Her sentiments are rigged way deep down her
person. Every word she utters represents a string of emotions which one will surmise is a result
of personal encounters never to be forgotten.

She recounts in a conversation that she was bullied in high school, partly because she was a
looker, more because she was talented and artistic. Being part of the school glee club was weird
for some girls that they gave Mimai a hard time. For all that she experienced, Mimai wanted
acceptance more than the usual understanding. She thought that when people have accepted her
and her talents, they would also be able to understand her. She never thought of getting even
with those who made her miserable. All she wanted was to be taken as who she is.

This is also the reason why, in her desire for acceptance, Mimai took up Psychology. According
to her, apart from her own experiences, this is where she gets most of the inspiration and
emotions she has poured in her singing. She found “people influences” interesting, so she starts
conversations with people for them to ease up and relate to her their own stories. In her very
words, ”experiences are tied up with people so I do not just remember the experiences but
more the people in it.”

FATED TO FAME

Mimai, unknown to others, is very much interested in other cultures. She taught ESL (English as
a Second Language) to Koreans where she also learned basic and conversational Hangul. With
this in hand, she incorporated Hangul in her music repertoire as she constantly covers Korean
songs in her gigs.

A leap of fate for Mimai was when she passed the audition to represent the country and compete
at the World Championships of Performing Arts, where Jed Madela and Rhap Salazar, among
others, launched their careers in the industry. She underwent rigorous vocal training in
preparation for the competition. She held her first solo concert in June 2016 entitled “Send Off”
at Taste New Manila, PGHI Hotel where friends and family expressed their full support and
well-wishes for the competition.

She competed at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Long Beach, California
where she won 7 medals and a plaque. She won a gold medal and a plaque, among others, for
being the Overall Champion ad Division Winner in the Rock Category. Also, she got 2 more
medals for the team group production and WCOPA Industry Award which is given to those they
deem marketable in the USA. Her other awards are for other categories which is proof that
Mimai is ready.
MIMAI REBORN

Having won overall champion for the Rock Vocal Category, she finally realized who she is as an
artist and redefined her niche as a performer. Her WCOPA experience reinforced her persona as
an artist. Mimai has just recorded her first digital single “Alam Kong Hindi Ako” which was
written and produced by fellow WCOPA 2016 delegate and singer Garth Garcia.

With all these outpour of blessings and capture of a new identity, Mimai will be launched,
together with her digital single, as a pop rock performer in Mimai Reborn on November 18,
2016 at Historia in Sgt. Esguerra, Quezon City. She will be joined by her fellow delegate and
composer Garth Garcia.

”I’ve been sleeping a thousand years, it seems. Got to open my eyes to everything…bring me to
life!” Now, as Mimai is Reborn, she has a full life ahead of her, clutching with her, not just her
personal experiences, but those of everyone who has touched her life and kept her eyes open for
inspirations.