Sara Serpa

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Sara Serpa first studied classical singing and piano in her teens at the Conservatory of Music in Lisbon. “It enriched my musical vocabulary and my attitude towards life,” she says. “I had to learn great discipline and deep focus."

In Portugal, however, her only option to study music in college was to continue with classical music, “but at some point I felt I didn't fit in that world,” she says. In college, she earned a degree in social work, although she maintained a strong interest in music outside of classes. She was mostly attracted to the vibrant jazz scene at Lisbon’s Hot Clube Jazz, the country’s first and most famous jazz venue, and its affiliated school. “When I went there, I was feeling a bit discouraged with my musical experiences—I didn't know exactly what my role in music was,” she says. “I started going to sessions at the club every week. It definitely changed my life and I discovered a new way to approach music.”

With a renewed focus on jazz and improvised music, she decided to come to the United States to study at Boston’s Berklee College of Music and later at the nearby New England Conservatory, where she received her Master’s in Jazz Performance in 2008. Among her teachers in Boston were pianists Danilo Perez and Ran Blake, vocalists Dominique Eade and Theo Bleckmann, trombonist Hal Crook, and saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. After graduating from NEC, Serpa moved to New York City, where her unique style quickly brought her to the attention of many of the city’s best musicians.

2008 saw the release of her debut American album, Praia (Inner Circle Music). In 2010, Serpa again mined her Boston experiences for Camera Obscura, a duet album with her former NEC teacher, pianist Ran Blake. Writing of the album in Lucid Culture, Alan Young said, “She approaches these songs with a devastating clarity and vulnerability. Together these two have raised the bar for jazz singing – and accompaniment – to an absurdly high level.”

Serpa’s rapid advance to the forefront of new jazz singers has also included an appearance on her NEC professor Danilo Perez’s 2010 Grammy nominated Providencia (Mack Avenue Records). Both Blake and Perez “have really shaped my vision as a musician and are a constant source of inspiration and friendship,” she says.

Since moving to the United States Serpa has performed with great musicians such as Danilo Perez, Ran Blake, Greg Osby, Ben Street, Thomas Morgan, Esperanza Spalding, Tyshawn Sorey, Kris Davis, Adam Cruz, John Hébert, Matt Brewer, Tommy Crane, Ted Poor, Noah Preminger, Joe Martin, André Matos, Leo Genovese, Ferenc Nemeth, Albert Sanz, Masa Kamaguchi, Vardan Ovsepian, among many others. She has also toured in the US, Europe and Australia.

Photo by João Ornelas

ON TEACHING

Sara Serpa is fascinated by the sound of the human voice. Her role as a teacher is to help the student find their own sound through technique, body movement and an arsenal of exercises and perspectives.

Sara is a patient and dedicated teacher, focused not only in developing a musical relationship with her students, but also to connect with them as a human being. Together, both teacher and student will learn and discover new things from the lesson experience.

The goal is to keep the student interested and passionate about music and to develop not only musical skills, but also personal skills. To be focused, persistent, disciplined, respectful and to open one's ears to all kind of music as part of human expression.

Sara teaches students of all ages and levels, focusing on:

• VOCAL TECHNIQUE - developing a good sound and exploring your voice
• IMPROVISATION - techniques based on basic harmony
• MUSIC THEORY & HARMONY - sight reading, chord symbols, scales, composition
• REPERTOIRE - building your own songbook, transposing tunes, chart writing
• PORTUGUESE, FRENCH & SPANISH for SINGERS - pronunciation when singing

Sara also teaches beginner piano, and she connects in a very special way with children.

Sara Serpa has studied with Theo Bleckmann and Dominique Eade, both former students of Jeannie Lovetri, known by her vocal method “Somatic Voicework”. She took a begginer's workshop on Jo Estill's method, participated in a workshop with Meredith Monk's Company and recently started exploring the Szamosi Technique.

Get Started with BML to set up a lesson with Sara.