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Artist
Sara Serpa
12+ albums
jazzvocal jazzfemale vocalistfree jazzportuguese
about
SARA SERPA, singer Music has been a part of vocalist Sara Serpa’s life since she started playing piano at age seven and singing in a youth choir that toured Portugal and France. As a teenager, she studied classical voice and piano at the Conservatory of Music in her native Lisbon, Portugal. Later on, while earning her college degree in Social Work, she found herself drawn to the jazz scene at Lisbon’s Hot Clube Jazz. The more involved in the city’s vibrant jazz culture she became, the more she wanted to be involved with contemporary improvisation and jazz. She decided to move to the US to attend Berklee College of Music and then the Jazz Program at Boston’s New England Conservatory. In 2008, the year she graduated from NEC with a Master’s in Jazz Performance, Serpa moved to New York. By chance, saxophonist Greg Osby heard her singing on streaming audio posted on her MySpace page and he asked her to join his band. Serpa recorded with him on 9 Levels that same year and appeared for the first time in New York with his band at the Village Vanguard. 2008 also saw the release of her debut album as a leader, Praia, featuring a quintet of musicians from her time in Boston. Today, her New York quintet continues to be a major creative focus. They made their recording debut on the 2011 CD, Mobile. The group provides her a platform for performing and experiment with her unique compositions. At New England Conservatory, Serpa had formed a close student-teacher bond with pianist Ran Blake.
