Amara
quartet
Amara quartet, the female expression of Fado
the Elegance, Strength and Beauty
Porto(PT)
Amara quartet is the female expression of Fado and stands out for their elegance, strength and beauty. The purpose of their music is to carry on the Fado tradition from a contemporary perspective, exploring a new tales of poetry.
The music of Amara quartet blends the heritage of the broad world of Fado “tradicional” with subtle elements of contemporary classical music, and the rich Portuguese folk music, presenting a singular repertoire with original compositions and singular arrangements, using a unique instrumentation.
Each of the musicians of Amara has a profound musical background and experience in those different styles and worked over the years at the “Casas de Fado" collaborating with many great musicians in the field, where they developed as “fadistas”.
Amara in Portuguese means the original love. Fado music was the first love and passion that connected these four ladies. Since the 19th century, Fado is a manifestation of the of Portuguese people’s voice and identity. Fado music transmits the joys and sorrows of the Portuguese soul.
Amara quartet was founded in July 2020 in the city of Porto, Portugal by Joana Almeida and it is the first female Fado quartet in the history of Portugal.
Ana Ferreira - vocal
Sónia Sobral – accodion
Joana Almeida – classic guitar
Susana Castro Santos – cello
The secret of Amara lies in
the creative chemistry between its four members.
In 2021 the group performed in different concerts halls and national and international festivals. In 2022 Amara begins in an excellent way presenting the new quartet’s line up that integrates the sublime sonority of Accordion asserting Amara’s musical identity.
Amara
Amara, my heart, cold tormentor
Soul of the Sun that lands in other lands
Brought a tear loose on my face
Willingness to put an end to the sad bond
Amara joyful life, joyful dream
Joyful sound sounded in my mind
I loved fado and found it without delay
Closed pain, past experiences
I love the art of being feminine
“Perfect Morals” Policy
That the grace of courage had enchanted me
Amara's fated birth
Joana Almeida
Ana Ferreira Vocal
Ana was born in 1981 in the northern city of Braga, Portugal. She started her musical studies at the age of 6, in classic music, studying piano and singing. She graduated in singing on the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo in Porto and until 2013 she was dedicated to perform and teach classic music.
In 2014 Ana had the opportunity to be resident musician in “Quevedo Port Wine", performing as pianist and singer. There her curiosity about fado grew and she started to go to “casas de Fado” to search Fado essence. Like this she developed her Fado repertoire. Since this time, Ana is a constant artist in “casas de fado” and cultural events in the north of Portugal, having the privilege to sing with the best north Portuguese musicians.
In 2017 Ana won both first prizes at the fado contest: Viana Canta o Fado and Concurso de Fado Lordelo do Ouro e Massarelos.
During her path Ana participated in various projects as: Dualogum, a project of jazz and bossa nova with the pianist Paulo Pinto; in 2019 Ana performed in the Braga's International Organ Festival, an original combination of organ and fado; in 2020, invited by the pianist and maestro Alberto Conde de Léon singed in Granada, Spain, at the annual tribute to the poet Frederíco Garcia Lorca and as part of Alberto's Atlantic Trio cast. Regularly Ana performs in Germany, Luxemburg, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland.
Sónia Sobral Accordion
Sónia was born in 1993 in Viseu, Portugal. Her connection with accordion begins at the age of 7, at the Távora and Douro Sul’s accordionists association, where she started to study the instrument. Sónia finished her master in Music Education (Accordion), at the Aveiro University. She also attended the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, in Tallinn and the Creative World Music Workshop by Pedro Madaleno.
During her route she participated in various music projects as: Reportório Osório and dois,pois (d’Orfeu AC). Sónia performed several times in orchestras with the conductors Carlo Goldstein and Jan Wierzba and in the present she integrates the Pinóquio show, in Casa da Música.
Sónia teaches at the Távora and Douro Sul’s Accordionists Association, at the Music Conservatory of Seia and at the Professional School of Serra da Estrela. She is also co-author of the podcast pontos nos mis, about musical performance.
With more than one hundred concerts in many different Portuguese concerts halls, included Casa da Música and Coliseu do Porto and in highly regarded music festivals Sónia performed in Santiago Island (Cabo Verde, 2015 and 2019), in Rio de Janeiro and in various cities in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil, 2016 and 2018), where she integrated the Brazilian show Sbornia Kontratacka and latest the Mercat de Música Viva de VIC in the Fira Trovam (Spain, 2020).
Susana Castro Santos Cello
Susana was born in 1971, in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal. She started to study music at the age of 2, in the Santa Maria Music Academy and she completed the course of Music Formation and the 5th Cello Degree. She continued cello studies with different teachers, participating in several courses and masterclasses.
In Évora University, she joined the choir as 1st soprano. During her route, Susana developed other skills as: rabel player, singer, composer, actress, teacher and musical director.
In 2000, in a concert with Mário Pacheco, Susana begun her Fado career. During her journey she played with various Fado singers as: Teresa Tarouca, Carlos Zel, Hélder Moutinho and Carminho. She was invited to perform and record with several artists, as: Cuca Moana, Manuel Gaspar, group Fado Trio, Pedro Barroso, Nuno Barroso and José Cid.
In fado concerts, she also performs in duos, with cello and vocal. Susana integrated many different projects as: Histórias de Paixão (music and poetry), Modas À Margem do Tempo (“alentejana” folk music), Alma Plana (Portuguese folk music), Trinadus (Fado), The Vein (rock), Projecto Fuga 01, Alma – Over the Love Project (Soul, R&B, Deep Soul), Romã (classic strings quartet).
Currently she is cast artist in the “Casa da Fado” Restaurante Típico O Fado, in Porto. In her career, stand out concerts in multiple emblematic rooms in Portugal, such as: Coliseu do Porto and Coliseu de Lisboa, Sá da Bandeira theater, Rivoli, Tivoli BBVA, S. Luís and Theatro Circo. Beyond Portugal, Susana performed in Russia, Brazil, Canada, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France and Poland.
Vocals
Ana Ferreira
Joana Almeida Classic Guitar
Joana was born in 1993 on the Portuguese northern coast in Vila do Conde. The responsible for the artistic direction of Amara quartet, Joana is one of the very first women working as a Fado classical guitarist “viola de Fado”. She started to study classic guitar in Fado at the age of 11 and slowly she was accepted in the professional Fado scene in Porto. In 2015, Joana attended the Jazz Course in Valentim de Carvalho Academy, where she studied for 5 years. At the same time, she improved her study with particular teachers as Bruno Brás, Eurico Costa, Nuno Campos and Ricardo Passos. Beyond Lisbon Fado, Joana is exploring different music genres like: Coimbra Fado, Portuguese folk music, bossa nova, jazz and konnakol.
In 2019, after to become a present musician in fado scene of Porto, she was invited to join the cast of the oldest “Casa de Fado” of the city, the Casa da Mariquinhas.
In 2020, developing her work as performer, composer and artistic director, Joana founded her first group of Portuguese original songs Cacha Mundinho, with Maripepa Contreras (Spain) on oboe, Sjahin During (Turky and Netherlands) on percussion and Felix Hildenbrand (Germany) on doble bass, in the same year she founded Amara Quartet, the first female Fado quartet and in 2022 she starts Miras Trio, a new fado group based in Amsterdam (Netherlands) with Juan S. Blanco (Colombia) on harp and Sofia Pedro (Portugal) on vocals.
In her path Joana played in several national and international concert halls as: Baltazar Dias Theater, Madeira (Portugal); Sá de Miranda Theater, Viana do Castelo (Portugal); Zorrilla Theater, Valladolid (Spain); Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht (Netherlands). Joana also performed in various music festivals as: in Sharq Taronalari Folk Music Festival in Samarkand (Uzbekistan, 2019); Ethnos Festival (Italy, 2021); Pas Festival (Netherlands, 2021); Hidden Kingdom World Music Festival (Bhutan, 2021); OuTonalidades Festival (Portugal, 2022); World Music Forum, Tivoli Vredenburg, Utrecht (Netherlands, 2022).