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).