Sonia
Tavares was born in Toronto, Canada to Portuguese parents. She has been involved
in music for most of her life. At age 8 she began taking piano lessons and
continued for the next 11 years, performing in recitals and preparing for
examinations. She then also had the privilege of teaching piano to young students
for several years.
At age 15, she realized something was missing and discovered that she needed to sing. She decided that the best way for her to explore this was through Classical singing lessons. So, she found a part-time job and after school and on weekends, she worked to pay for them. Sonia studied the Classical form for 12 years, the last half of those being at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. From 2002-2004 she sang with Toronto’s Opera in Concert as a member of the Chorus and participated on their recording of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux.
Sonia also has an immense love of Portuguese music. Just prior to her beginning to sing, she was introduced to a Portuguese singer who would have a profound affect on her life. At 15, Sonia heard the mystifyingly beautiful recording of Dulce Pontes’ “Canção do Mar”. From that moment on, the spell was cast. Sonia bought Dulce’s CD and listened to and sang along with Dulce every day for a year and a half. She fell in love with Dulce Pontes as an artist and began to delve into Portuguese music, more specifically, fado.
While at the University of Toronto studying History and Religion, she became a founding member of the Portuguese-Canadian music group named Luso-Can Tuna, the only group of its kind in North America, but with a very long academic tradition in Portugal and Spain. With this group she had the opportunity of performing several times in Portugal and throughout southern Ontario. This gave her experience on stage and allowed her to lose many of the inhibitions she once had. In 2004, Sonia decided it was time to focus on performing fado.
Her first major show as a solo artist was at the Royal Ontario Museum at an event highlighting Portuguese art and culture. Since then, she has performed at fado nights within the Portuguese community and has continued to perform at mainstream venues. She is extremely excited to launch her first CD, entitled Reformação, meaning Reformation.
Sonia is also very proud to finally be writing songs and is astonished that she was able to write them in Portuguese! Four of the songs on the CD are written by her; a feat that at one time had seemed impossible. She attributes this to the fact that when things are meant to happen, they will happen, much like “fado”, the Portuguese word for fate.
At age 15, she realized something was missing and discovered that she needed to sing. She decided that the best way for her to explore this was through Classical singing lessons. So, she found a part-time job and after school and on weekends, she worked to pay for them. Sonia studied the Classical form for 12 years, the last half of those being at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. From 2002-2004 she sang with Toronto’s Opera in Concert as a member of the Chorus and participated on their recording of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux.
Sonia also has an immense love of Portuguese music. Just prior to her beginning to sing, she was introduced to a Portuguese singer who would have a profound affect on her life. At 15, Sonia heard the mystifyingly beautiful recording of Dulce Pontes’ “Canção do Mar”. From that moment on, the spell was cast. Sonia bought Dulce’s CD and listened to and sang along with Dulce every day for a year and a half. She fell in love with Dulce Pontes as an artist and began to delve into Portuguese music, more specifically, fado.
While at the University of Toronto studying History and Religion, she became a founding member of the Portuguese-Canadian music group named Luso-Can Tuna, the only group of its kind in North America, but with a very long academic tradition in Portugal and Spain. With this group she had the opportunity of performing several times in Portugal and throughout southern Ontario. This gave her experience on stage and allowed her to lose many of the inhibitions she once had. In 2004, Sonia decided it was time to focus on performing fado.
Her first major show as a solo artist was at the Royal Ontario Museum at an event highlighting Portuguese art and culture. Since then, she has performed at fado nights within the Portuguese community and has continued to perform at mainstream venues. She is extremely excited to launch her first CD, entitled Reformação, meaning Reformation.
Sonia is also very proud to finally be writing songs and is astonished that she was able to write them in Portuguese! Four of the songs on the CD are written by her; a feat that at one time had seemed impossible. She attributes this to the fact that when things are meant to happen, they will happen, much like “fado”, the Portuguese word for fate.
