Joana Espadinha

Joana was born in 1983, in Lisbon, Portugal, and grew up in a family of non-profissional musicians that opened her ears for music, especially by playing tradicional portuguese music, the "Cante Alentejano'', from the south of Portugal. At 12 Joana joined the Musical Academy of Estoril, she became singer in the Choir and study flute. In 2004 she joined the jazz school Hot Clube de Portugal, where she had classes with Joana Rios, Paula Oliveira, Afonso Pais, Bernardo Moreira, João Moreira. She also had classes with Bárbara Lagido. She sang in bars and clubes around Portugal and joined a project to teach jazz to young children, doing workshops sponsored by the City Hall of Cascais. She finished the 3rd year in Hot Clube and Law school in 2006, and she aplied to the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where she is studying now. There, she had workshops with Fay Claassen, Sheila Jordan, Ronald Douglas,, Sanna Van Vliet, among others. At the end of 2007 she was invited by Fuse, a brand entertainment agency, to perform in an event called Fuse and Jazz, and to record in the studios Valentim de Carvalho in Portugal. The result of this recording is a cd called “Joana Espadinha at Fuse & Jazz. Her repertoire is mainly Jazz and Bossa Nova, but she seeks for music in its pure form, with no frame, no label, just an honest way of expression, even if it’s using words or only sounds. Sound is actually an universal language. Photos by Claudia Hansen and Andreas Klein.

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