Aqura

Sara Correia (Portugal)

Fado


8th February 2020 - 3 PM - 6 PM - Fateh Sagar Paal

Ever since she was very young, Sara Correia has been singing regularly at Lisbon's most renowned fado houses. And so she sings with the strength and the confidence of someone who grew up immersed in fado. Now she was ready to release her debut album, "Sara Correia". "I relate very strongly with all the songs that make up this record, I see myself in every story they tell and these stories define me as a fadista. So I decided it should be self-titled", the singer explains.


She has lived and breathed fado since childhood. Growing up in a family of fadistas she has always been surrounded by music and musicians, and, as such, living the same life came naturally.


"Everything happened so fast. I've gone out to listen to fado since I was very little, I have fadistas in the family and I started singing when I was very young", she recalls. Still, in those early stages of the path that would lead her to devote herself entirely to fado, there is a moment she remembers as particularly important: "When I sung and won at the Grande Noite do Fado de Lisboa, I felt like this was what I wanted to do with my life".


Sara Correia was just 13 years old when she won the Grande Noite do Fado (a major fado festival and singing competition, established in 1953). Soon after her victory, she was invited to sing at one of Lisbon's most important venues for fado, the Casa de Linhares, where she was lucky to sing with and learn from some of the greatest voices in fado, like Celeste Rodrigues, Jorge Fernando and Maria da Nazaré. "I will always think of them as the school of being a fadista", she declares.


In fact, the experience of the fado house is vital to her. "To sing at fado houses is very important to me, it is almost mandatory. It's where you get your bearings and learn to use your voice, where you grow into your identity, singing night after night as if your life depended on it. All the great fadistas of today, and all of the greats in our history came into their own at fado houses."


She grew up listening to and learning from Amália Rodrigues, "the ultimate fadista" who inspired her deeply on the path she's lead up until today, all different sides of it. Still, she lists other great voices as her influences, like Fernanda Maria, Beatriz da Conceição or Hermínia Silva.


Besides the fado houses, Sara Correia has performed at celebrated venues like the Centro Cultural de Belém or the Caixa Alfama and Caixa Ribeira festivals, and she was invited to sing at the Concerto por um Novo Futuro at Portugal's biggest concert hall, the Altice Arena.


Recently, her talent caught the attention of French filmmaker Joel Santoni, who asked her to sing Amália Rodrigues' "O Grito" for his "Une Famille Formidable" television series. She was also invited by Portuguese filmmaker Diogo Soares Silva to play a part in the upcoming film "Alfama em Si", where she plays Severa, an historical character who is a true embodiment of fado, in a cast made up of some of the best artists in the country.


At last, her long-awaited debut album was released, produced by Diogo Clemente. The record also features musicians such as Ângelo Ferreira – "undoubtedly one of this generation's Portuguese guitar geniuses" –, Marino de Freitas on bass guitar, and Vicky Marques on percussion.


Love, sadness, saudade and joy, the city of Lisbon, our Portuguese soul, all of these intense stories are sung and told in the earnest and fadista way that distinguish Sara Correia's voice.


In the future, she hopes to be able to keep doing what she loves most: to sing, and to share her songs with the world. "I am utterly happy when I sing. To be able to work alongside people I admire and whom I learn from everyday is an honor and a blessing. I hope to live many experiences beside outstanding professionals and all of the musicians and audiences I'll get to share my life with."


Sara Correia's auspicious firts album, “Sara Correia”, was released in the second quarter of 2018, earning her two nominations for the Play - Portuguese Music Awards, in the categories of Best Fado Album and Best New Artist. The international edition of her debut album was released by Wrasse Records the following year with the physical edition available in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Benelux and Japan.


Sara Correia is one of Universal Music Portugal's biggest bets this year, the very label who put out albums by household names in fado such as Carlos do Carmo, Ana Moura, António Zambujo, Cristina Branco or Marco Rodrigues.”