CRISTINA MARIA
I wish I would communicate with the stars and the sea
as well as bless the soul’s chanting coming from inside
of me!
The proof that Fado lives today a moment of outstanding vitality lies
in the fact that last decade has seen a new generation of performers
with a surprising quality within a wide spectrum of stiles and
aesthetic tendencies.
Rui Vieira Nery
Rui Vieira Nery
Cristina Maria belongs to a new generation of performers. Her voice
charms you the first time you listen to it. It has a thick, sensual and
emotion-loaded sound, able either to whisper in a confessional tone
or to cry a passionate hurting where we feel no interpretation trick
but solely a strong capacity for dramatic communication.
It is clear the affiliation assumed by Cristina Maria with Amália’s
tradition through her repertoire, which includes some of the most
famous fados of Amália. But Cristina Maria does not only copy
Amalia in anyway. Her singing has such a strong authenticity that we
find ourselves hanging on her voice, inside a register where there is
an obvious poetic and delicate shyness.
Born in Bajouca, Leiria, she started her career playing flute and
clarinet. She took part in a few groups of popular and ethnic music
and was the vocalist of pop and rock bands. However, her heart
belonged to the Fado, either to its music, poems or to its
interpretation and feelings.
She sings both original and traditional poems with great emotion,
showing how passionate she is towards life and how committed she
with the pursuit of dreams and desires of her heart. Cristina Maria
started singing the fado five years now all over the country and also
in other European countries.
The other side of Cristina, who leaves behind the name Maria and
starts using Ferreira whenever she is a Master of Artistic Stone
Workings and a Sculptor, can be defined as one of the most seducing
musical propositions of our urban singing.
Orlando Leite in Jornal I
In 2009 she fulfills the dream of a lifetime. The recording of her first
CD is called “The other side” and was produced and directed by
Custódio Castelo, a master guitar player known not only by the
irreverent way he tackles the themes and re-creates new
environments for the so-called traditional fados but also by the
mixing of the Portuguese guitar with other tones. The music of Maria
Cristina lies between tradition and innovation, original and traditional
fados, guitars, “adufe” and clarinet – played by the self.
The lucid eyes of the Fado
Fernando Pessoa
The artistic production of Cristina Maria Ferreira shows an eloquent
equivalence of identities: Cristina Ferreira, the sculpture designer and
Master of Artistic Stone Workings and Cristina Maria, the fado singer
and instrumentalist.
Cristina Ferreira graduated in Artistic Stone Workings by the
Vocational School of Traditional Arts and Crafts in Batalha. She
showed a creative energy and significant availability, as well as a very
own state of mind. Her notorious talent in the art of stone carving
stands out. Beauty and skill are materialized in the most
unsophisticated raw material. A pattern of style is always present in
her search for the shape.
After the Stone Workings Course – Technical Manager, she faced two
different occupational experiences: teacher and businesswoman.
In the School of Traditional Arts and Crafts in Batalha she
experienced a teaching sometimes provided in difficult conditions, but
which enabled her to explore different technological and artistic
areas.. It was also there that she started being a teacher and that
experience has given her a broader view of other fields, namely in her
occupational activity as a trainer.
In her curriculum as Sculptor and Master in Artistic Stone Workings
they may be highlighted the following activities: jury member in Tests
of Vocational Aptitude of the Course of Stone Workings at the
Vocational School for Traditional Arts and Crafts in Batalha since
2003; jury member in stone workings competitions at Regional and
National Vocational Training level, promoted by the IEFP (Institute for
Employment and Vocational Training) since 2002; Trainer of the
Artistic Stone Working Course in Ansião, promoted by Adilcan,
2002/2003; Trainer of Stone Workings technicians in the State of
Ceara, Brazil; instructor in a workshop that took place in Volvic,
France; she also took part in: the restoration team for the
reconstruction of the main vault of the Capela de Nossa Senhora da
Gaiola – Cortes; restoration of the gateway, Capela de Alcogulhe;
restoration of gothic windows – joint workshop with stone workers of
several countries, which took place in Rhein, Germany, in partnership
with the Kulturforum; working-out of several decorative and
structuring pieces of Artistic Stone Workings for the Quinta da Aroeira
and working-out of big sculptures for public and private spaces.
Exhibitions
Since 1996 Cristina Ferreira has participated in several collective
exhibitions at national level, as well as in congresses and meetings in
the field of the stone workings. Up to today, she has carried out and
promoted her own exhibitions, welcomed by the public and which
have been a deserved recognition and a significant demand for her
workings.
PROJECTS for 2010
- Sculpture in honour to Manuel Teixeira Gomes for his
house/museum in Portimão
- Sculpture for a building in Alverca
- Preparation of the Batalha Exhibition 2010
- Sculpture for Troia
- Other Sculptures
www.cristinamariaferreira.com