Dulce Pontes - "Moments" (Paphos)

The world renowned singer Dulce Pontes will give two performances in Cyprus within the framework of the Kypria Festival.

Over the years DULCE PONTES has evolved into a renowned star of World Music, but more than anyone in this genre, Dulce is a diva – like a Lusitanian Callas. Her awe-inspiring voice is unmistakable and her versatile appeal is universal.

Dulce was born in 1969 in Montijo, in the vicinity of Lisbon. A young Dulce was introduced to the Portuguese Fado tradition by her uncle Carlos Pontes, Fado singer and a lover of bullfights. At the age of seven she began studying piano at the National Conservatory of Music in Lisbon, and it was here that her curiosity for music was aroused, and she acquired an insatiable instinct to research music which would eventually lead her to the multifaceted international career she possesses today.

Experimenting with her vocal qualities, Dulce made her professional debut as a singer after entering a competition in her hometown at the age of 18. She soon became an actress in Portuguese television and theater and in 1991 she won the national song festival with her song ‘Lusitana Paixão’ (‘Lusitanian Passion’). A year later her first record came out, Lusitana. In 1993, with her record Lagrimas (Tears), Dulce set out on her own course. Although she was considered by many as a potential successor to Amália Rodrigues, the internationally admired Portuguese Fado singer who died in 1999, Fado was just one of the elements that she was interested in. Today, the breadth of Dulce’s twenty-year career attests to her innate and enterprising search for new directions to express herself musically.

Dulce burst onto the World Music scene with the song ‘Canção do Mar’ – a kind of folk aria, rich with vast and dramatic minor chords that served as a backdrop to the sweeping power of her supremely emotional voice. Included on the album, Lágrimas, which became one of the best-selling records of all time in Portugal, this song appeared on the soundtrack of the 1996 Hollywood film Primal Fear, and is to this day Dulce’s instantly recognizable and world-known trademark song.

Considered the most adventurous of all Portuguese singers involved in Fado's current renaissance, Dulce is regarded as the one who defines its survival by respectfully stretching its boundaries. A musician, songwriter and singer, her work blends traditional Fado with contemporary styles and eagerly searches out new forms of musical expression. Dulce constructed her own identity by expanding the concept, rediscovering many long forgotten popular tunes, introducing new instruments and arrangements, and finding use for many allegedly obsolete musical instruments.

With her global success, Dulce became a citizen of the world. Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Dulce was everywhere, singing in a strange language on the stage, and achieving the miracle of proving that great music is a universal language. Her inimitable voice cannot be categorized within any style that limits her; it knows no national boundaries that can stop her. Her voice and singing are her very own style and, for that reason it is a style that is unique and unmistakable.

Through her career, Dulce Pontes released several records of Fado and Portuguese folk music, but expanded beyond the boundaries of Portuguese music. Her artistic explorations know no geographical or cultural borders. Her work is inspired and influenced not only by Iberian musical tradition, but also Arabic, African, Brazilian and Bulgarian. She sings mostly in her native Portuguese, but also in Spanish, Galician, Mirandese, Italian, English and Greek.

Invitations from international music stars for collaborations and her participation in concerts and recordings came of her versatility and fame. She has performed with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, the Spanish tenor José Carreras, the Brazilians Simone, Cesaria Evora from Cape-Verde, the Brazilian Caetano Veloso, the Spanish bagpipe player Carlos Nuñez, and The Chieftains from Ireland. She has performed with George Dalaras, collaborated with Stefanos Korkolis, and the Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki for whom she composed a song for her album Broadcast. Dulce’s 2003 album Focus is the fruit of collaboration with Italian film composer Ennio Morricone, on which she vocally interpreted his famous compositions, as well as some works that he created especially for her.

As a performer - singer and dancer - Dulce is dramatic and expressive - on stage she plays the piano, dons ankle bells, singing phrases and executing dance moves that evoke all at once, Celtic, flamenco, Arabic, Gypsy, and Indian music - a total theatrical performance. Dulce’s career has seen her perform countless international tours, singing on all the stages of the world and in 2007 Dulce Pontes became the first Portuguese artist on the mythic Carnegie Hall’s stage in New York City where more than 2500 people paid her tribute with a standing ovation.

In 2008 this versatile and prolific artist celebrated the twenty-year anniversary of her career and her latest work has been in the Top 20 of the World Music Charts Europe for the last two consecutive months. Her new album Momentos, which should be released by the end of the year will contain previously unreleased songs and new versions of songs recorded through her career in many locations around the world. The tour "Momentos" will start in the spring of 2009.

You can buy tickets from the following locations

Nicosia
Strovolos Municipal Theatre: 22-313010
Megaland Diagoras Avenue: 22-456622
Megaland Ledras: 22-670338
Musical Paradise: 22-750505

Lemesos
158 Irinis Street: 25878744
Rialto Theatre: 7777 7745
Brent Cross Anexartisias: 25-378344
Brent Cross Makariou: 25-747814
Musical Paradise Makariou: 25-822380
Musical Paradise Kolonakiou: 25-324025

Larnaca
Larnaca Municipal Theatre: 24-665795
Accapella Music Store: 24-664165

Pafos
Municipal Information Centre: 80008181
Kalypso Music Store: 26-949296

The event is part of the Kypria International Festival 2009.