CMA’s VIVA! & Gala Around Town
presents
Mariza: The Fado of Portugal
“Mariza has it all – charisma, a voice to die for and stunning looks…one of the world’s great divas.” – The Times (London)
CLEVELAND (March 30, 2009) - The Cleveland Museum of Art’s (CMA) renowned VIVA! & Gala Around Town presents two-time Latin Grammy-nominated singer Mariza in a program of fado (or passion songs) of Portugal on Friday, April 10, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.
Just as tango is in Argentina and flamenco is in Spain, fado is the national music of Portugal – proud, passionate, and ultimately exhilarating. Mariza is its biggest star who in the words of the Rolling Stone, “sings it not as musty nostalgia but as exuberant twenty-first-century pop, with a low, mesmerizing alto that’s as commanding as any pop singer today…remaking fado’s ancient sadness into a majestic modern sound.”
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Born in Mozambique and moved to Portugal when she was three years old, Mariza has built an impressive reputation in Portugal—where she was named the Tourism Ambassador by Portuguese government and is treated like a rock star by the public—and internationally. She has had sell-out performances at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and Théâtre de La Ville in Paris. In the United States she sold-out her Carnegie Hall debut and swept away audiences at performances across the country, including at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic.
Fado scholars claim that fado is probably the oldest urban folk music in the world and represents the heart of the Portuguese soul. A fado performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears. Fado’s ingredients are a shawl, two guitars, a voice and heartfelt emotion. Its essence is Saudade, an untranslatable word which roughly means the feeling of longings for that which cannot be acquired, a lost love or even a mystical longing for the ephemeral beloved.
Admission to the show is $41 and $39 for CMA members. Special group and student rates are available. To purchase tickets visit the CMA Online Box Office at www.clevelandart.org/tickets or call 1-888-CMA-0033. Mariza will perform at PlayhouseSquare located at 1519 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. Parking is available at the PlayhouseSquare Parking Garage at E. 15th Street and Chester Avenue, at the Hanna Parking Garage on E. 14th at Prospect, and at various nearby surface parking lots. Circle. The 2008-09 VIVA! & Gala season is sponsored by WCPN 90.3 and WNWV The Wave.
Special Film Showing: Fados
The Cleveland Museum of Art Film Series presents a screening of Fados Friday, April 17 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 19 at 1:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Morley Lecture Hall. Directed by Carlos Saura, with Mariza, Cesária Évora, and more, this is the latest music film by Carlos Saura and focuses on fado and on the accomplished fadistas who sing it, accompanied by instrumentalists and dancers. Admission prices to museum films are: general public $8, CMA member $6, seniors 65 and over $5, students $4, or one Panorama voucher. Panorama Film Series vouchers (in books of 10) cost $55 for the general public, $45 for CMA members. Tickets are available through the Online Box Office at www.clevelandart.org, in person or over the phone at 1-888-CMA-0033. Parking is available in the CMA parking garage.
50/20 Special Offer
The first 50 people who call for VIVA! & Gala tickets receive a 20 percent discount on a single ticket. Limit of two per person. To purchase tickets, call the CMA Box Office at 1-888-CMA-0033. Callers should mention the “50-20” when ordering. This offer is good for all performances in the rest of the VIVA! & Gala 2009 series.
Viva! & Gala Around Town
The next performance in the Viva! & Gala Around Town will be Basil Twist’s “Dogugaeshi,” on Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 21 at 7:30 p.m, and on Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m, at the Cleveland Play House’s Brooks Theatre. This hour-long performance features master puppeteer Basil Twist as he unfolds an intimate, abstract and contemporary journey of images and emotions influenced by the tradition of Japanese dogugaeshi. This portrayal of raw emotion, not suitable for children, will be accompanied by Yumiko Tanaka as he performs his original shamisen composition.
The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The programs are also made possible by The Ernest L. and Louise M. Gartner Fund, The P. J. McMyler Musical Endowment Fund, The Anton and Rose Zverina Music Fund, and The Musart Society.
About The Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is renowned for the quality and breadth of its collection, which includes over 40,000 objects and spans 6,000 years of achievement in the arts. Currently undergoing a
multi-phase renovation and expansion project, it is a significant international forum for exhibitions, scholarship, performing arts, and art education. Admission to the museum has been free since its founding charter.
The Cleveland Museum of Art has a membership of nearly 25,000 households and is supported by a broad range of individuals, foundations, and businesses in Cleveland and Northeastern Ohio. The museum is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Additional support comes from the Ohio Arts Council, which helps fund the museum with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. For more information on the museum, its holdings, programs, and events, call 1-888-CMA-0033 or visit www.ClevelandArt.org.
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