Joana started her musical journey by taking piano lessons at the age of six.
At 17, she moved to Lisbon and took classical singing lessons for a year. Later, in 1998, she entered Hot Clube’s Jazz School. In the year that followed she was referred to as “New Voice Revelation”. At the same time she completed a degree in Industrial Design.
In 2002 she moved to New York to go to school at The New School University‘s, where she majored in Jazz & Contemporary Music Program with a Scholarship.
She Mastered in Music Performance in 2012 at ESMAE (Oporto) and is now attending a PHD in Performance Arts at Faculdade de Letras (Lisbon).
She has studied with Buster Williams, Connie De Jongh, Doug Weiss, Joanne Brackeen, Jeannie Lovetri, Lúcia Lemos, Luciana Souza, Reggie Workman, Sheila Jordan, Steve Coleman, Theo Bleckmann, Vic Juris, among many others. She participated in Meredith Monk’s Company Member Workshop “Singing Body/dancing Voice”.
Her resumé includes performances alongside renowned artists such as Abe Rábade, Bernardo Sassetti, Chris Strik, Edu Lobo, Gary Bartz, Jamey Haddad, Jane Ira Bloom, Jesus Santandreu, Paulo Braga, Perico Sambeat, Reggie Workmann, Rembrandt Frerichs, Sara Serpa, Toon Roos, among others.
She has equally performed with Jazz Orchestras such as Lehigh Valley Jazz Repertory Orchestra , directed by Bill Warfield; New School University’s Jazz Orchestra, directed by Charles Tolliver; European Jazz Youth Orchestra, directed por Pedro Moreira.
Besides her own recordings: “Crude” (2006), “A Casa do Óscar” (2009), “Travessia dos poetas – Rosapeixe” (2010) she has participated in Abe Rábade’s “Aloumiños de Seda” (2008), Amílcar Vasques Dias’ “Desnudo” (2011) and Ricardo Pinheiro’s “Song Form” (2013).
She’s a faculty member at Universidade Lusíada de Lisboa’s Jazz & Modern Music Department, teaching Voice, Ensemble and Ear Training. She also teaches at Hot Clube de Portugal’s Jazz School.
Her new album “Blame it on my Youth” is out since January of 2014, being exclusively distributed by Parlophone Music.
Through their performances, singers preserve culture and history.
They inspire countless dreams and aspirations with their artistry.