Mariza at Walt Disney Concert Hall

There's no singer who embodies the sound of fado more completely than Mariza. The Portuguese musician was born in the same neighborhood that, 150 years earlier, gave birth to the dramatic, expressive, and intensely melancholy music now synonymous with the Iberian country. Mariza's ability to draw the deepest emotions from a song made her an instant star in Portugal, where she’s beloved as an icon. Across her three-decade career, she has stretched fado's limits, combining it with jazz, flamenco, Latin jazz, and influences from her mother's home country of Mozambique. Her "dark, rich, commanding contralto" (The Washington Post) has led to collaborations with everyone from Lenny Kravitz to Gilberto Gil.