The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are on sale now for a November 5, 2017 concert featuring Grammy-nominated recording artist Mariza, presented as part of the 2017-18 Performing Arts Series at Monmouth.
 
Hosted inside the refurbished Pollak Theatre, the 7:00 p.m. event is return appearance to Monmouth University by the Portuguese vocalist who performed to a sold-out crowd at the venue 10 years ago. Mariza’s appeal straddles both the hyper-current realm of pop stardom and the centuries-old musical traditions of her ancestors.
 
The music is fado, the style of folk balladeering born of the people who worked the land and (especially) the seas in and around the singer’s Lisbon home base. As practiced by the late Amália Rodrigues and other regionally popular artists, this voice of the waterfront working people took an often mournful, sometimes joyous view of real-life struggle that was graced with understated instrumentation, romantic verse, folklore, spirituality and, occasionally, a pointed sense of social justice.
 
With her 2001 debut release Fado en mim, the young singer with the platinum hair and rose tattoo put a new 21st century face on what was once regarded as “peasant” music – and was almost immediately hailed as the heiress to Amália’s legacy, with high-profile appearances at festivals throughout Europe and North America, as well as international album sales that far outstripped those of her contemporaries.
 
Through a succession of best-selling recordings and concert tours, Mariza would officially (as per the mayor of Lisbon) assume the role of a modern ambassador of fado; introducing much of the global audience to its seductive charms, and sparking widespread interest well beyond the Portguese-speaking world. The singer would perform at Sydney Opera House, the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall; duet with English language stars like Sting; co-star in Carlos Saura’s feature film “Fados;” travel the planet as a goodwill emissary for UNICEF, and retain the services of master architect Frank Gehry as stage set designer.
 
In the process of reviving the songs of Amália and Fernando Mauricio, the Mozambique-born star would also contribute elements that ranged from Latin American styles and classic jazz, to flavors of her grandmother’s African culture – a heritage that she celebrated on the deeply personal hit “Transparente.” Embraced by multiple generations of fans in New Jersey’s Portuguese-speaking community, she comes to the flagship auditorium of the Monmouth campus – so near the sea from which the songs of fado derive their power and inspiration – for an event that reaffirms the Performing Arts program’s long-standing commitment to bringing a world of music to the doorstep of the coastal New Jersey audience.
 
Tickets, priced at $39 and $49 with a Gold Circle seating option of $60, can be reserved right now for the November 5 concert featuring Mariza, by calling the Monmouth University Performing Arts Box Office at 732-263-6889, or visiting www.monmouth.edu/mca. Stay tuned for news on other upcoming events in the Performing Arts Series, including The Wailin’ Jennys (February 17, 2018) and Danu (March 1, 2018).