Fernando Machado Soares (3 September 1930, in
São Roque do Pico – 7 December 2014), was a Portuguese
fado
Fado (; "destiny, fate") is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Lisbon, Portugal, but probably has much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar Rui Vieira Nery states that "the only reliable information on the history of fado ...
singer, poet, composer, jurist and judge.
Early life
He was born in the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
São Roque, on the island of
Pico
Pico may refer to:
Places The Moon
* Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin
Portugal
* Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde
* Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...
, the archipelago of the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, a descendant of the last ''Captain-mor'' of
Lajes do Pico
Lajes do Pico () is a town and municipality in the central Azores. It is one of three municipalities of the island of Pico. It has 4,342 inhabitants as of 2021, in an area of 155.31 km2. It is bordered by Madalena to the west and by São R ...
.
Career
He received his formal education at the Faculty of Law, at the
University of Coimbra
The University of Coimbra (UC; , ) is a Public university, public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The university ...
in the 1950s.
He participated in the film ''"Rapsódia Portuguesa"''.
After completing his university education he suspended his artistic pursuits, and concentrated on a career in law. However he accompanied the
Academic Choir of Coimbra to the United States, where he sang in New York City (at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...
), Boston, Chicago and Atlanta. In addition, his tour allowed him to participate on an American television program on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. He became an author of various celebrated fados, that include ''"Balada da Despedida"''.
See also
*
Coimbra fado
External links
Portal do FadoFado.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soares, Fernando Machado
1930 births
2014 deaths
Portuguese fado singers
People from Pico Island
University of Coimbra alumni