Valerie Belinga

Very early on Valerie discovered Caribbean, Peruvian Indian, and South African music, and was swayed by singer Myriam Makeba, alongside her father who was choir master of a Gregorian chorus.

As a teenager she listened to the soundtrack of Billie Holiday's life " Lady Sings the Blues" and gradually entered the world of great jazz singers such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzerald, Shirley Horn, Mahalia Jackson and many more.

After relocating to Strasbourg, France, and taking up residency, she started attending jazz clubs . With an aim of perfecting her training as a singer, she enrolled to the CIM (Centre d'Information Musicale) and the IACP (Institute of an Artistic and Cultural Perception) and joined the choir “ Gospel Voices.”

Through this artistic endeavor she met and worked with Parisien jazz figures Laurence Saltiel, Marc Thomas, Sarah Lazarus, and Michael Hendricks.

Valerie was able to meet with and learn from such notable musicians and vocalists as: Manu Dibango, Lokua Kanza, Ray Lema, Dad Wemba, Youssou N' dour, Richard Bona, Bonga, Martinho de Vila, Cesaria Evora, Yannick Noah, Angélique Kidjo, The Wailers, Claude Nougaro, Salvatore Adamo, Gilbert Bécaud, Daniel Lévi, among others.

She has gone on to perform recently with the group Urban Twoubadoo, and sang with the Caribbean group Dissonnans.

With her personal passion for music combined with a bountiful gift of natural talent, Valerie Belinga is a performer bound for success. Source: James Nadal

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