Sara Correia
Fado Singer
From a very early age, Sara Correia has been a regular presence in the best Fado houses in Lisbon. And, because of that, she sings with the property and strength of someone who grew up in Fado.
She has lived Fado since she was a child. The fact that she grew up in a Fado family helped her to live surrounded by music and musicians from an early age and to live that life in a very natural way.
Sara Correia was only 13 when she won the Grande Noite do Fado and soon after she was invited to sing in one of the most mythical Fado houses in town, Casa de Linhares. There she had the privilege of singing and learning alongside great names of Fado, namely Celeste Rodrigues, Jorge Fernando, Maria da Nazaré, among others.
She grew up and learned to listen to Amália Rodrigues, who inspired her so much in the path she has traced until today, in all its aspects, but Sara Correia also has as references other great voices, such as Fernanda Maria, Beatriz da Conceição and Hermínia Silva.
In September 2018, she released her debut album, the eponymous “Sara Correia”, under the Universal Music Portugal label and worked on in partnership with producer Diogo Clemente. Musicians such as Ângelo Freire, the master Marino de Freitas on bass, Vicky Marques on percussions and Ruben Alves on piano participated in it.
Also in 2018, her talent caught the attention of French director Joel Santoni, who invited her to sing “Grito” by Amália Rodrigues for his series “Une famille formidable”. She was also invited by Diogo Varela Silva to participate in his film “Alfama em Si”, portraying Severa, a historical character who is a true symbol of Fado, integrating a cast composed of some of the best Portuguese artists.
In Portugal, critics celebrated Sara Correia’s debut and unanimously applauded the “great voice of the new generation”. The album earned her, in 2019, two nominations in the first edition of Play – Portuguese Music Awards, in the categories “Best New Artist” and “Best Fado Album”, the Rádio Festival “Best New Act Award” and more than 30 concerts and surrendered audiences in countries like Spain, South Korea, Norway, Italy, Austria, Reunion Islands and, already in 2020, in India, Belgium, Holland and Chile.
Meanwhile, in September 2020, she released “Do Coração”, her second studio album, again produced and worked on in partnership with Diogo Clemente. With traditional Fado, where she imprints her power like no other, coexist themes written and composed for her voice, making them fados. An example of this is the first single from the album “Chegou Tão Tarde”, with words and music by the young composer Joana Espadinha. Carolina Deslandes, Luísa Sobral, António Zambujo – with whom she sings in duet on the album – Jorge Cruz and the aforementioned Diogo Clemente are examples of this.
The year 2021 is still smiling on Sara Correia. Right at the beginning of the year, the Fado singer was invited to perform live at the inauguration concert of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, at Centro Cultural de Belém, where she sang accompanied by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Joana Carneiro, alongside the renowned Camané, Carminho and Ana Moura. In the concert, she had the opportunity to pay tribute to the master Carlos do Carmo.
In 2021 the album “Do Coração” won one of the PLAY – Portuguese Music Awards, in the category “Best Fado Album”. Sara Correia was nominated alongside the iconic Mariza, Cuca Roseta, and Buba Espinho. Besides the important victory, Sara Correia also performed live at the gala.
In July of the same year, the fadista reissued the acclaimed and award-winning “Do Coração”. The new version, entitled “+ Do Coração”, includes the original line-up and three extra songs, recorded live: “Antes que Digas Adeus”, “Os teus Recados”, and “Alfama”. The reissue was accompanied by a concert made available on YouTube, recorded in October 2020 as part of the Festival Internacional Cervantino, the largest cultural event in Latin America. In this intense performance, Sara Correia interpreted themes from the album “Do Coração” and two fados immortalized by Amália Rodrigues, “Alfama” and “Fado Português”, a way to mark the centenary of the legendary Fado singer, which was celebrated in 2020.
The same month saw the release of the anthem to Lusophony “Meu Bairro, Minha Língua”, a song written by Brazilian rapper Vinicius Terra, which deals with the rediscovery of our roots, cultural heritage and historical relations. The Fado singer was one of the great ambassadors of Lusophony chosen to sing the song, along with Dino D’Santiago, Elza Soares, Linn da Quebrada, and Vinicius Terra himself. The song marked the reopening of the Portuguese Language Museum in São Paulo, Brazil, and has been part of its collection since its reopening on July 31, 2021, after the restoration work that followed the fire in 2015. The project also resulted in a web series of 8 episodes, and Sara Correia brought to the initiative some of her experiences, dreams and encounters with music and Fado in her own neighborhood.
2021 brought an unprecedented challenge to Sara Correia – a creative collaboration with the artist Tony Cassanelli – in a challenge launched by the project “Lisboa Crioula”, from which were born a documentary and a sculpture. Then, November reveals that the Fado singer has a participation in the first Portuguese series on Netflix, “Glória”, in a cameo that is a reference to the historical meeting between the American saxophonist Don Byas and Amália Rodrigues.
However, 2021 would invariably be marked by Sara Correia’s nomination for the world’s most important music award, the Latin Grammy. If this is a long-term goal of any career, Sara Correia achieves it with her second record of originals, “Do Coração”, in a nomination for Best Portuguese Roots Album. In addition to the nomination, Sara is invited to host the awards ceremony, as a presenter, in Las Vegas, on November 18, 2021.
“Quero é Viver”, a 1983 original by António Variações, breaks the silence at the beginning of 2022, in a version interpreted by Sara Correia for the generic of the TVI prime-time soap opera with the same name. The song hits the digital charts and YouTube trends in the week of its release.
With war breaking out in Ukraine, Pedro Abrunhosa invites Sara Correia to participate in his song “Que o Amor te Salve nesta Noite Escura” for the concert “Uma Voz pela Paz”. The single, released on March 25th, quickly climbs the YouTube charts and reaches #3 on this popular list with all proceeds being donated to the WE HELP UKRAINE organization.
SARA CORREIA’S POSTER
