The wisdom of a mother’s heart is never wrong, when Fernanda Pereira heard her young daughter sing a vast repertoire she used to say “it’s in Fado that your voice shines the most”, but it wasn’t just the voice that shone, but that was only to be learned to much later.

To little Ana Moura, to grow up in the bosom of a family that loved music, especially Fado, secretly and kindly helped her vocation. In Coruche, where she lived until her teens, her voice was already noticed. Thou her musical passions laid, as usual at this age, quite far from Fado. Rock and Pop fitted more a teen’s hunger for life and adventure, Ana was no exception. Already living in Carcavelos, Ana was invited to sing in a Rock/Pop cover band called Sexto Sentido. We will never know if a charismatic pop singer was lost, but what we acknowledge is that what we now have is too precious to be ignored.

By those days Ana began to sing in several fado houses, invited by many Portuguese guitar players, a sort of initiating ritual. In one of these sessions Maria da Fé (a very important Portuguese Fado singer) hears Ana sing, and hires her to her Fado house, Sr. Vinho, one of the most emblematic Fado houses in Lisbon. That was the beginning of it all. For those that wish to pursuit a career in Fado, the Fado house in which one sing becomes a school. That was what Maria da Fé’s house was to Ana in the early years she sung there, a school. It is said that Destiny always finds those that seek it; it was in Sr. Vinho that Ana met her musical ally, Jorge Fernando, a singer, author, producer and musical writer. This early partnership remains until today. Jorge Fernando is a Fado singer by soul and heart, he lived among the greatest names of Fado – he was for many years Amália Rodrigues classical guitar player – and writer/composer of many excellent songs. Jorge Fernando is also a musical producer of extraordinary vision and sensibility. From this musical venture emerged Ana’s first album “Guarda-me a Vida na Mão” (2003), the first steep to a great career, it caught the critics and the public by surprise. One of the tracks “Sou do Fado sou fadista”, became and instant standard. Such a voice hadn’t been heard for quite a while, so full, in its words and unspoken silences. The critics upraised Ana’s work, and she started touring abroad, where her work was even more acknowledged. But the best was yet to come

The following year was another daring in steep Ana’s career. Her new album was quite ambitious: Aconteceu (2004) was a conceptual adventure, a double CD divided into traditional Fado (“Dentro de casa”) and new paths evolving within and around Fado (“À porta do fado”). To reinforce this new approach Ana invited musicians and songwriters from different musical quadrants such as Tozé Brito, Tiago Bettencourt, or Miguel Guedes (Blind Zero). In fact after that album Ana made it, it happened! Aconteceu, borders began to fade and her recognition rose beyond fronteirs. In the Netherlands her success got her nominated for a Edison, the Dutch world music equivalent for a Grammy; Ana’s performance in New York’s Carnegie Hall (one of the most prestigious and famous halls in the world) will go down in history as the first Portuguese act held there, a young and shy Ana was the first to steep on it. But the world wanted more and it began to be small for Ana’s soul. She performs in Canne during the cinema festival, sings in the Getty museum, and sells out famous concert halls around the globe. It was during those days, that in distant Japan, a musician buys a bulk of Fado albums, plays one in his stereo, and a few minutes later, stops, dumbfounded: he had found the voice he long searched for. That musician was Tim Ries the resident sax player of the Rolling Stones as well as the mentor of the Rolling Stones Project. In this project Tim aggregates some of the world’s best voices to record their personal interpretation of some of the Rolling Stones songs. When Tim listened to Ana he did not hesitate one second and invited her to join the project. Two songs were picked up and rearranged by Jorge Fernando and the famous Portuguese guitar player Custódio Castelo.

Still one thing was missing; the mythical band had not yet met the singer. It happened in Lisbon, a day before a Stones concert held Alvalade XXI, one Lisbon’s biggest stadiums. At that time Ana was singing in the Fado house of Linhares where she used to perform, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and the rest of the band were mesmerized by the soul they felt in Ana’s voice. After her performance Jagger asked for a word in private, and next day about 40 000 people surrendered to a different version of No Expectations, performed by the most unusual duet: Mick Jagger and Ana Moura. That moment, was in Ana’s own words, one of the most memorable in her life.

With a tight agenda, only by the end 2006 Ana begins the pre-production her next album. This album would finally reach the heart of the Portuguese, a late recognition but due and fair. Para Além da Saudade (2007) expresses the maturity of a Fado singer, confidence in studio, and the victory of a new Fado concept. Returning to a sonority that reflects only the essential (Bass guitar, Portuguese guitar, and Classical guitar) Para Além da Saudade opens new musical paths to the traditional Fado inheritance. This is widely expressed in the collaborations of; Amélia Muge (Fado da Procura), Fausto (Viemos Nascidos do Mar) or Miguel Guedes (Mapa do Coração). This album also includes the participations of the mythical Patxi Andion and Tim Ries, that so “returned” Ana’s participation in the Rolling Stones Project. But above all it’s in Para Além da Saudade that Ana has her first emblematic Fado song: “Os Búzios”, written by Jorge Fernando; mandatory in every concert and sung in unison by audiences everywhere.

Para Além da Saudade reaches platinum in Portugal. Abroad her performances are increasingly more and more demanded. Besides her huge European tours Ana also conquers Mexico and the USA. But within doors her merit is also recognized with the award Amália for the Best Performer of the Year, given by the Amália Rodrigues Foundation in 2007.

Ana was then ready for another major challenge in 2008; the Coliseums of Lisbon and Porto, the two most emblematic concert halls in Portugal. These two magical nights were recorded on a DVD that also reached platinum. On stage Ana had two legendary guests; Maria da Fé, Beatriz da Conceição, and the complicity of Jorge Fernando in the classical guitar. Ana sells out these halls, a rare event in a Fado concert. Again, Ana fills the halls with her soul. Meanwhile Para Além da Saudade, reaches double platinum and stays on the tops for 120 weeks in a row.

Ana’s career moved forward with more tours, trips, and prizes, such as the International award of PALCUS ( Portuguese American Leadership Council Association), the most important association of the Portuguese community in the USA. The award was given in San José City Hall in California. This event also coincided with the live presentation of the “Stones World: Rolling Stones World Music Project” album, and included two presences of Ana in the cities of New York and San Francisco.

With a stable, but non compromising career, Ana lived blissful days, but the stakes were indeed high; the next album would be decisive to tell the difference between maturity and apparent stagnation. Fortunately it was again Ana’s restless soul to overcome the hidden traps of success. Always relaying on the crucial complicity of Jorge Fernando and sticking to the “core” collaborations found in Para Além da Saudade, Ana’s new work Leva-me aos Fados (2009), is another step forward that avoids ruptures that seek the new just for the sake of it. Her growing confident voice supported by two guitars, conjugates the beauty of the traditional Fado with the unexpected paths of “Não é um Fado Normal” written by Amélia Muge or the participation of the Gaiteiros de Lisboa. Moreover we may add the precious surplus of José Mário Branco and Amélia Muge collaborations.

Ana’s latest album is a remarkably beautiful and balanced work, the song that entitles the album “Leva-me aos Fados” seems to be a rightful heir to “Os Buzíos”, given its growing popularity. Leva-me aos Fados was instant gold, and quite shortly after platinum.

How far will Ana’s soul go? It’s hard to tell, in 2009 in a concert in Paris, a very especial person was trilled by Ana’s voice. Prince, he had already heard Ana’s record, the concert merely confirmed his impressions. News are anxiously awaited. Meanwhile, Ana lives her life in a day by day basis, doing what she knows best all over the world: Shed her immense soul thou her chant. One can only sense that soul underneath her girlish fragile smile.