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Sofia Ribeiro

Sofia Ribeiro is one of the greatest voices from the country of fado, a magnificent singer who has the ability to immediately attract the listener to her unique musical universe. Well-known for her strong and emotional performances, the multi-awarded singer has captivated audiences all over the world with her charming and powerful sound. Blending elements of jazz, Brazilian and Portuguese music, her new album ‘Ar’ ‘is the result of a powerful combination of this exceptional singer’s talent as a vocalist and composer with the brilliant arrangements and production of Colombian pianist Juan Andrés Ospina.

Sofia has a diploma in jazz performance from “Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto”, where she studied with the portuguese singer Maria João and the dutch jazz vocalist Fay Claassen. During her studies she did a one year exchange program in Barcelona at “Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya”, and another one at the famous Berklee College of Music (Boston), that offered her a scholarship. She was a student of Bob Stoloff and was awarded the “Oliver Wagmann Memorial Scholarship”, for an “outstanding vocalist demonstrating academic excellence at the college”. Later she received a master’s degree in jazz performance with “great distinction” from the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where she studied with David Linx. During her master’s studies she went to study for one year at the prestigious “Conservatoire National Superieur de Paris” (CNSNDP) with an “Erasmus” scholarship.

She received the second prize of the first “Brussels International Young Jazz Singers Competition” (Belgium, 2005), the first prize at the “International Jazz Competition for Singing Musicians: Voicingers” (Poland, 2008), and the first prize at the “Crest Jazz Vocal” competition (France, 2010), in duo with Marc Demuth. In March 2008 she participated in the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC).

She has recorded five CDs: “Dança da Solidão” (2006), in duo with Marc Demuth, “Orik” (2008) with the Marc Demuth 4tet, “Porto” (2010), in collaboration with Gui Duvignau, ‘Mil e uma cores’ (2012), children’s music written for Manuela Mota Ribeiro’s books, ‘Ar’ (2012), all arranged and produced by Juan Andrés Ospina and "Apenas" (2012), in duo with Bartolomeo Barenghi.

She has been performing in many different venues in various countries, such as: Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon, Portugal), Philharmonie (Luxembourg City, Luxembourg), Silesian Jazz Festival (Katowice, Poland), Berklee Performance Center (Boston, U.S.A.), Jamboree (Barcelona, Spain), Sunset Jazz Club (Paris, France), The National Theatre (London, U.K.), Brussels Jazz Marathon (Brussels, Belgium), Euro Jazz Gala (Trier, Germany), Kennedy Center (Washington, U.S.A.), Jazz au Chellah (Rabat, Morocco), April Jazz (Espoo, Finland) and Easy Jazz Festival (Zory, Poland), among many others.

Awards

1st prize at the international competition “Crest Jazz Vocal” (France, 2010;) 1st prize at the international competition for singing musicians “Voicingers” (Poland, 2008;) 2nd prize at the “Brussels International Young Jazz Singers Competition” (Belgium, 2005).


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Read "Back to Brazil: Part Three" reviewed by Mark Holston


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Read "Jazz Quanta April – Five Women III:  Erica Papillion-Posey, Meli’sa Morgan, Daphna Levy, Gabriela Martin, Sofia Ribeiro" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


We are enjoying a rich period of jazz vocals creation, the story continues... Erica Papillion-Posey The Standard Reimagined: When Jazz... Self Produced 2016 Vocalist Erica Papillion-Posey recently published a book entitled Musings From the Mind of a Mezzo, Poetry & Prose of Passion, Pain & Plight (2015), a title revealing a lot about the singer. Posey is classically trained (a mezzo-soprano to be precise) at home in the realms ...

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“Sofia is an exceptionally talented musician who is stylistically diverse and technically proficient, with a remarkable ear and articulation technique. Her stylistic interpretation is seasoned, sophisticated and extremely expressive. She is one of the best scat singers that I have ever worked with!” (Bob Stoloff, Berklee College of Music, Boston, U.S.A)

“More than a voice (and what a voice!), Sofia Ribeiro is someone whose talent is worthy of attention.” (A.B. - Jazz.pt magazine)

“Her annunciation is pure no matter if the volume she sings at is sometimes barely above a whisper. And when she has the freedom to improvise or sing a cadenza, her lines lope and spiral making the song look like a bird in tumbling flight.” (Raul da Gama, The world music report)

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Primary Instrument

Vocals

Location

Porto

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Lunga

Self Produced
2019

buy

Ar

Unknown label
2012

buy

Porto

Self Produced
2010

buy

Videos

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