2013-02-23 18:19 CET Katia Guerreiro Katia was born on February 23rd 1976, in South Africa. Soon after her birth, her family returned to the island of S. Miguel, Azores, where she was raised. At the age of 15 she played the local instrument, a special kind of guitar, at the folk band “Rancho Folclórico de Santa Cecília”. It was the start-up of her musical career. When she graduated high school she went to Lisbon so she could attend the medical university. She became a doctor in 2000, but her academic years were also spent as the vocalist of a rock band “Os Charruas”. In October 2000 she went on stage on a tribute concert to Amalia Rodrigues in Lisboa and she delighted the audience with the best performance of Fado of that night. In that moment, her career as a Fado singer came to life. “FADO MAIOR”, her first record, was issued in June 2001, won the Jose Afonso Award and reached the top of sales in South Corea. “NAS MÃOS DO FADO”, her second record was issued in 2003 with carefully selected lyrics from the best Portuguese authors like Luis de Camões, Florbela Espanca, Ary dos Santos and António Lobo Antunes. This record was also nominated for the Jose Afonso Award, confirming a promising career. As recognition of her talent, critics and the public gave her quite an amount of attention as the national and international media offered Katia special spotlights (documentaries, tv shows, etc). In Portugal she was formely awarded as one of the 30 personalities, distinguished by her work among the 30th anniversary of the April Revolution (one of the most important national holidays). In February 2005 Katia recorded a duet with Martinho da Vila, a renowned brazilian singer, in his new album “Brasilatinidade”. Still in 2005, Katia issued her third work “TUDO OU NADA” in which she interpreted the poetry of Vinicius de Moraes, Sophia de Mello Breyner and Antonio Lobo Antunes, among others. The piano player Bernardo Sassetti played for her piece “Minha Senhora das Dores”. 2005 ended beautifully with her participation in the Rencontres pour l’Europe de la Culture, at the Comédie Fançaise in Paris, by invitation of the Minister of Culture, Mr. Donedieu de Vabres, aside with Tereza Berganza, Jeanne Moreau, Costa Gravas and Barbara Hendricks. At the end of her speech Katia sang “A Capella” a dramatic fado song “As Rosas/Promessa”. Her eloquent statement for the cultural identity of each member state of the European Union resulted on her nomination to become a member of the European Cultural Parliament. The excellence of her talent was awarded with the prize of Feminine Personality of the Year (2005). The people that voted for her considered her “one of the most beautiful voices enriched with unusual vocal ability”. In 2006 the album “TUDO OU NADA” was reedited with two duets with Ney Matogrosso during his visit to Lisbon. Meanwhile, Katia also recorded “A Voz da Poesia” written by her and with music by the renowned Portuguese musician, Rui Veloso. Her new record “Fados do Fado”(2008 and 2009), focused mainly on the traditional Fado, recreating some of the most famous fado hits by Tony de Matos, Max, Tristão da Silva, Hermínia Silva, Teresa Silva Carvalho, João Ferreira-Rosa, and of course Amalia Rodrigues. In 2010 Katia celebrated the first decade of her artistic career and reveived the “Best Performer of Fado" award by the Amália Rodrigues Foundation. After various shows around the world, this year ended with two grand concerts in Lisbon and Paris, and also with the edition of the double album “10 ANOS- NAS ASAS DO FADO" in which she gathered the best moments of her discography, including three original duets with Simone de Oliveira, Amina Alaoui and Rui Veloso. Nowadays, Katia Guerreiro continues representing Fado and her country with passion and pride. She’s now editing her first live DVD, upon her concert in Olympia (Paris) in 2012. Katia is also editing a new record and preparing an international tour in 2013: France, Spain and Russia are some of the countries in this tour. Värdefulla kulturupplevelser.