Overview
Calling all fado fans! Join us for a free conversation on Facebook featuring two of Portugal’s finest fado singers: Hélder Moutinho and Katia Guerreiro. They’ll discuss the iconic Portuguese musical tradition and its relationship to Lisbon, poetry, music and history—and you can expect to hear a sprinkling of songs, too.
Hélder Moutinho is a fado singer of startling imaginative depth and invention. With his brothers, Camané and Pedro, he shares a long family lineage devoted to fado. Hélder Moutinho’s albums are multi-faceted creations, each built around a unifying concept: they evoke contemporary experiences of love and loss, framed by the ancient alleyways and shadows of Old Lisbon. Moutinho is also one of a very select group of singers who manage their own fado venue, or “Casa de Fados” (fado house). In this case, the “casa” is “Maria da Mouraria,” where fado’s first great singer, Maria Severa, lived more than 150 years ago. It’s a pulsating, mythical place at the center of a bustling community of fado singers, musicians, lyricists and composers.
Katia Guerreiro is one of the most revered fado singers in Lisbon and one of the most popular in the world. Her poignant singing and flawless technique expresses the deep soul of the Portuguese people. Her voice is refined but spontaneous, free and sensitive. Katia has released ten albums, has performed all over the world and has received several awards, including Chevalier Order of Arts and Letters from the French government, the Order of Prince Henry and the Best Performer Prize by the Amalia Rodrigues Foundation.