Sonia Shirsat (born 1980) is an Indian fadista. Referred to as the "ambassador of Goan music to the world" she has performed across India and the world and often during cultural and music events in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

. She has sung in 15 different languages Shirsat has been promoting

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 ...

in Goa, by holding training and introductory classes to this form of music at various parts of the region.

Early life

In her earlier day job, Shirsat was a lecturer of law. She "bagged an international award for her speaking skills, much before she started singing professionally". She holds an

LL.M A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

(Master's in Law) degree. She started singing as a hobby, and has been a professional singer since about 1999. Her mother is

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and her father, a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Getting into Fado

Shirsat is one of the few from India to excel in the

, a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal or earlier. She credits Portuguese guitarist Antonio Chainho, who was offering guitar training in Goa some years ago, for introducing her to it. At the end of the workshop conducted by him, there was a search for someone to sing the Fado. Shirsat's voice was found to have "fitted perfectly for the song", and thus began her "tryst with the genre", she says. In five years time, she performed at her first-ever solo concert, in Portugal, 2008. , she has performed in

, Daman,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

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Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

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and

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. She has also performed in

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, Oeiras and

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Shirsat has also performed along with some of the prominent names from the world of

, including Katia Guerreiro, Maria Ana Bobone, Raquel Tavares, Rao Kyao,

Carlos do Carmo Carlos Manuel de Ascenção do Carmo de Almeida (21 December 1939 – 1 January 2021), better known as Carlos do Carmo, was a Portuguese fado singer. The son of Lucília do Carmo, a well-known ''fadista'', do Carmo began his career in fado fol ...

, Argentina Santos, Miguel Capucho, Ricardo Rocha and Antonio Chainho. She has performed on a number of occasions on a number of Portugal-based TV channels, including in live performances on RTPI,

Sociedade Independente de Comunicação SIC (acronym of full name Sociedade Independente de Comunicação) ("Independent Communication Society") is a Portuguese television network and media company, which runs several television channels. Their flagship channel is the eponymous SIC, th ...

and

Televisão Independente TVI - initialism for Televisão Independente ("Independent Television") - is Portugal's fourth terrestrial television channel, launched in 1993. It was the most watched channel in Portugal from 2005 to 2019, and again in 2024. It competes direc ...

. In

, she is known for her live performances at a number of venues, among these the Art Chamber at Calangute.

Theatrical career

In September 2012, Shirsat made her debut on the

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

stage as a singer in Sammy Tavares's '' tiatr'' production ''Apleam Bhurguem Sangatak'' (With Their Children).

Other achievements

Shirsat is the only professional Fadista (Fado singer) in the Indian Subcontinent, a form she has performed since 2003. She also conducts workshops and gives talks on this semi-classical genre of music called the

. Apart from the Portuguese

, Shirsat is also known for performing Traditional and Pop music from Goa.

Awards

Shirsat has won the 2016 April: Best Singer (Female) Award from the Tiatr Academy of Goa. She was also conferred the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2016 in the category of Traditional Music which is awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. She attained the Yuva Srujan Puraskar 2011, the highest Award in the cultural field given by the Govt of Goa in Youth Category.

Media comments

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' newspaper said of her: "Shirsat is a prodigious singer with a versatile voice. Rated as the best Fadista in India of all time, the talented singer has toured across the globe."

Discography

* 2006: Selected for Fado scholarship in Portugal. * ''Saudades de Fado'', 2010 * March 2010: Release in Lisbon of album 'Lisgoa' which Shirsat has performed in with Antonio Chainho * ''Ugddas'', 2013. This collection comprises cover versions of prominent musicians such as Alfred Rose, Chris Perry, Frank Fernand, Wilfy Remembus, among others. Shirsat has also been working on

music in recent times. * ''Melodious Goa'', 2014 * ''Saudades de Fado II'', 2016 * August 2016: Fado in the City (performance)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirsat, Sonia 1980 births Living people Tiatrists Indian fado singers Singers from Goa Women musicians from Goa 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women musicians Portuguese-language singers