Artist biography
There is no other fado voice like Ana Moura’s. A voice that traipses freely through tradition, but that also takes time to flirt elegantly with pop music, to broaden the scope of this Lisbon song form in a highly personal way. But what really sets her apart is not just the deep and sensual timbre that few others can produce, it is her adroitness at instantly transforming into fado any melody she lends her voice to. There is practically no fuse on this emotional explosion, fired unhesitatingly at the listener’s heart.
Fausto, José Afonso, Ruy Mingas, Angolan music and fado. These were the favourites at the Moura family’s musical soirées, in Coruche. Ana Moura was just a slip of a girl – she was born in Santarém, also in the Ribatejo district, in 1979 – with a love of singing. Her parents sang, all her mother’s family sang, and any family get together would always end with music and song. Although she would sing anything, Ana soon began to feel that, for some reason, she had a special fondness for fado. At the age of six, she sang her first fado, “Cavalo Ruço” (Dapple Horse), and she would also often hear her mother crooning “O Xaile de Minha Mãe” (My Mother’s Shawl). Then came adolescence and she put fado to one side for a while. She got into other types of music, more befitting her age and her school friendships.
In a full-blown adolescence of discoveries and rebellions, and also highly curious about other musical forms, the 14-year old Ana Moura arrived in Carcavelos to start the 10th year at school. She did not come to sing but, rather, to study. She did, however, enrol in the Amateur Music Academy. She formed her first band with school friends. Although she sang other genres, her voice, left to its own devices, rapidly gravitated towards the register required for fado. Even when singing with rock groups, she managed to squeeze one or two fados onto the play list, usually Amália’s “Povo que Lavas no Rio” (You People Who Wash Clothes in the River). Amália was something of an idol to Ana at this stage in her career.
Her experience with this cover band, the Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense), eventually led to her starting to record a pop/rock album with the musician Luís Oliveira, to be released on the multinational Universal label. However, the record was never finished. Destiny intervened and led Ana Moura to a bar in Carcavelos, where she gave in to the temptation to sing fado. The guitarist António Parreira, who was there that night, was so impressed that he took her by the hand and led her on a tour of fado houses. Then, at a Christmas party for musicians and fado singers, as Ana Moura joined in the merrymaking with those who were to inhabit her nights from then on, she was invited to sing a song. The invitation came from Maria da Fé, co-owner of the prestigious Senhor Vinho fado house, who was unable to resist such raw talent. The applause was accompanied by the offer of a resident spot from Maria da Fé.
Artist video presentation
Artist music videos
19th October 2018 – MAR Shopping Matosinhos – Matosinhos – Portugal
26th October 2018 – Coliseu Micaelense – São Miguel – Açores – Portugal
3rd November 2018 – Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval – Sintra – Portugal
17th November 2018 – Europarque – Santa Maria da Feira – Portugal
24th November 2018 – Centro Cultural de Viana do Castelo – Viana do Castelo – Portugal
28th April 2019 – Gdańsk Lotos Siesta Festival – Gdańsk – Poland
13th October 2018 – Teatro Ribeiro Conceição – Lamego – Portugal
7th October 2018 – Melbourne International Arts Festival – Melbourne – Australia
5th October 2018 – Sydney Opera House – Sydney – Australia
28th September 2018 – Feira de São Mateus – Elvas – Portugal
22th September 2018 – Theartro Circo – Braga – Portugal
20th September 2018 – San Mateo – Oviedo – Spain
9th September 2018 – EXPOMORA – Mora – Portugal
25th August 2018 – Vila Flor – Bragança – Portugal
18th August 2018 – Feira de São Mateus Viseu – Viseu – Portugal
16th August 2018 – Boticas 2018 – Boticas – Portugal
13th August 2018 – Festas do Louriçal – Pombal – Portugal
12th August 2018 – Festival do Marisco – Olhão – Portugal
5th August 2018 – Festas de Marinhais – Marinhais – Portugal
1st August 2018 – Expofacic – Cantanhede – Portugal
28th July 2018 – Noites de Fado – Vila Nova de Cerveira – Portugal
21st July 2018 – Festival Montepio Fado Cascais – Cascais – Portugal
18th July 2018 – Paléo Festival Nyon – Nyon – France
7th July 2018 – Fado Lousada – Lousada – Portugal
1st July 2018 – Comissão de Festas Rebordosa 2019 – Rebourdosa – Portugal
22nd June 2018 – Festas da Vila da Calheta – Madeira – Portugal
13th June 2018 – Méditérranée Festival – Ashdod – Israel
10th June 2018 – Areinho de Avintes – Vila Nova de Gaia – Portugal
26th May 2018 – Casino da Póvoa – Póvoa do Varzim – Portugal
20th May 2018 – Festival do Fado Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro – Brasil
12th April 2018 – SF Jazz – San Francisco – USA
10th April 2018 – City Winery Chicago – Chicago – USA
9th April 2018 – Dakota – Minneapolis – USA
7th April 2018 – Zeiterion Theatre – New Bedford – USA
6th April 2018 – Berklee Performance Center – Boston – USA
5th April 2018 – The Town Hall – New York – USA
4th April 2018 – Vienna – USA
31st March 2018 – Casino da Figueira – Figueira da Foz – Portugal
18th March 2018 – Feira do Bolinhos – Vizela – Portugal
15th March 2018 – Teatro Nuevo Apolo – Madrid – Spain
11th March 2018 – Prazo da Cultura de Pontevedra – Pontevedra – Spain
10th March 2018 – Auditorio de Ferrol – Ferrol – Spain
4th March 2018 – Casino 2000 Mondorf-les-Bains – Luxemburg – Luxemburg
3rd March 2018 – Palais des Congres de Paris Porte Mailliot – Paris – France
18th February 2018 – Inmpart Art Center – Wroclaw – Poland
17th February 2018 – Narodowa Orkiestra Symfiniczna Polskiego Radia w Katowicach – Walentynki z Fado – Katiwice – Poland
15th February 2018 – Stora Teaterm – Gothenburg – Sweden
- 2003 Gruarda-me a vida na mão
- 2004 Aconteceu
- 2007 Para Além da Saudade
- 2008 Coliseu
- 2009 Leva-me aos Fados
- 2012 Desfado
- 2015 Moura
Link to Artist Official Website
http://www.anamoura.com.pt/
Link to Artist Official Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/anamoura/