sara serpa

APPEARING: MANHATTAN MARATHON @ City Winery Loft
Biophilia Records Showcase

Friday, January 13, 2023

Sara Serpa - voice, Erin Pettigrew - spoken word, Aubrey Johnson - voice, Yoon Sun Choi - voice, Fabian Almazan - piano, Qasim Naqvi - modular synth

A native from Lisboa, Sara Serpa is a singer, composer, improviser, who through her practice and performance, explores the use of the voice as an instrument. Serpa has been working in the field of jazz, improvised and experimental music, since moving to New York in 2008. Literature, film, visual arts, nature and history inspire Serpa in the creative process and development of her music. Described by the New York Times as “a singer of silvery poise and cosmopolitan outlook,” and by the JazzTimes magazine as “a master of wordless landscapes,”  Serpa started her recording and performing career with jazz luminaries such as Grammy-nominated pianist, Danilo Perez, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow pianist, Ran Blake, and Greg Osby.

As a leader, she has produced and released ten albums, the latest being Intimate Strangers (2021) and Recognition (2020).

Serpa was voted 2020 NPR Jazz Vocalist, Rising Star-Female Vocalist 2019 by the Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, and teaches at The New School. Currently Serpa is Artist-In-Residence at Park Avenue Armory, in New York and a recipient of a 2022 NYFA Artist Fellowship, 2022 Copland Recording Fund, 2021 USArtists Grant from Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts, and 2021 Herb Alpert/Ragdale Prize in Composition,  New York City Women’s Fund 2020, 2019 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, 2019 New Music USA Grant.

Serpa has been active in gender equity in music and is the co-founder (along with fellow musician Jen Shyu) of Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³), an organization created to empower and elevate women and non-binary musicians.