Concert, VIP reception to Benefit UMass Lowell’s Saab Center for Portuguese Studies
Image by Courtesy photo
02/11/2025
Media contact: Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations
Charismatic fado singer Katia Guerreiro, honored by the governments of Portugal and France for her virtuosity in the genre, will make her UMass Lowell debut in concert next month.
The performance, presented by the university’s Saab Center for Portuguese Studies, is one in Guerreiro’s inaugural tour of the U.S. to mark her 25-year career as a vocalist.
“This will be an exciting night of music by a captivating artist,” said UMass Lowell’s Frank Sousa, professor of world languages and cultures, who directs the center. “Event proceeds will benefit study abroad programs in Portugal; photography exhibitions, including many by students; the student-led Luso-Brazilian Club; research and conferences on the Portuguese American experience; the Portuguese American Digital Archive; and the Distinguished Lusophone Writers Series, which brings award-winning authors to campus.”
As a musical genre, fado is synonymous with Portuguese identity. The art form traces its roots to Afro-Brazilian music and dance in the early 19th-century, while its modern version is characterized by songs recounting tales of longing, loss, travels to far-off destinations, and the sea. Fadistas, as fado singers are known, are usually accompanied by musicians playing stringed instruments, including the iconic 12-stringed Portuguese guitar.
The show will be held at UMass Lowell’s newly renovated and dedicated Moloney Performing Arts Center (formerly Durgin Hall), on the university’s South Campus at 35 Wilder St., Lowell. Tickets are $45 per person, with free admission for UMass Lowell students. Individuals wishing to become event sponsors may purchase tickets to the show and a special VIP reception with the artist before the performance in nearby Coburn Hall on South Campus at 850 Broadway St., a short walk from the concert venue. Free parking will be available in the Wilder Faculty and Staff Lot, accessible via Wilder Street. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available through the UMass Lowell alumni website.
Born in South Africa and raised on the island of Saint Michael in the Azores, Guerreiro has recorded eight critically acclaimed albums. As a vocalist, she has performed alongside luminaries such as singers Plácido Domingo, Maria Bethânia, and fado performer Celeste Rodrigues, and on stages at the Berlin State Opera, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Paris Olympia, among many others.
Housed within UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Saab Center for Portuguese Studies promotes initiatives that enhance the visibility of Portuguese culture and community, as well as the study of the language, literature and cultures of the vast and varied Portuguese-speaking world, comprised of more than 260 million people in eight countries on four continents.