Fado Route

16 December 1973 (Singer)

Mariza has shared the stage with musicians from all over the world, singing with famous voices such as Sting and Tito Paris. She sings fado but mixes it with jazz, flamenco and Cape Verdean morna rhythms because she likes to take risks and to create new sounds. One of the biggest names in the new generation of fado singers, she was chosen to act as ambassador for fado's inclusion on the Unesco list of intangible human heritage. After consolidating her international career, she was described by the British newspaper The Guardian as the "diva of world music". 

7 September 1919 - 5 July 1993 (Singer)

An aristocrat by birth, Maria Teresa de Noronha began singing within the closed circle of family parties at a very young age, but her obvious talent set her on a career that chiefly developed on the radio. For 23 consecutive years, she sang live on a radio programme until the day she decided to retire, in 1962. She became an iconic figure within a genre of fado which became known as "fado aristocrático", or aristocratic fado.

11 February 1921 - 31 July 2016 (Composer and lyricist)

A confessed lover of fado, he was a notable composer and lyricist. During his long career, he wrote over 130 songs, performed and recorded by various generations of artists. "Fado Varina" and "Valeu a Pena" are examples of some of these which have entered directly into fado's musical and poetic pantheon.  

9 April 1953 (Guitarist and composer)

Considered one of the most brilliant and talented guitarists performing today. Son of the guitarist António Pacheco, who accompanied the major voices of fado, he followed in his footsteps as a performer but has also achieved success as a composer. "Um Outro Olhar", his first album, released in 1992, lives up to its title, taking a highly personal approach to fado. Years later, the specialist British magazine Songlines described his album "A Música e a Guitarra" as one of the best world music albums of 2007. 

18 June 1955 (Singer)

Daughter of a Portuguese father and Spanish mother, she spent most of her childhood in Spain. She became familiar with fado through her mother, who listened to it at home. When she returned to Portugal in 1990, she recorded an album, "Mísia", which presented her to a Portuguese audience, revealing a strong personality and an approach to fado that falls outside the traditional canon. She enjoys singing the words of the erudite poets, a preference that has earned her the epithet of the "intellectual fado singer". She has an established international career, above all in Spain, France, Britain, Argentina and Japan.