Catarina Racha
Voice

Catarina Racha was born in Lisbon, Portugal a city deeply influenced by African culture, and brought up in a nurturing musical environment. She studied Fine Arts (Painting, Photography and Ceramics) in the University of Fine Arts in Lisbon, Portugal, from where she has a BFA plus 2 years of specialization (Licenciatura). In 1998, Catarina attended Music Theory, Classical Voice Training and Musicianship in Lisbon’s Music Conservatory, and the Jazz Performance Program at The Escola de Jazz Luís Villas-Boas. During the Spring Semester of 2003 she taught Improvisation and Ear Training in the same school, as well as adjunct-conducting the school’s Jazz Vocal Group. Until the fall of 2003 she sang in various formations as a jazz singer, and also African music, from Angola and Cape Verde. In the fall of 2003, she came to New York to complete a BFA in Jazz Performance at the City College of New York, graduating in 2006 Suma Cum Laude. The City College’s Department of Music gave Catarina the following: The Max Greenberg Scholarship, the Pro Musica Award, and the Doris Field Award. She also received the Kaye Scholarship. At City College she studied with John Pattittucci, Sheila Jordan, Paquito de Rivera, Mike Holober, Neil Clark, Ed Simmon, Duduka da Fonseca and other great musicians. Her voice teacher is Janet Steele. She also studied Orchestration at Juilliard School with composer Daniel Ott.

While a student in New York, Catarina continued her professional career as a singer, percussionist, and composer. In the four years since arriving as a student in New York, she has quickly become a fixture in the US’s Latin music scene and is now one of the field’s most sought-after performers for solo and ensemble work.

Catarina was, until May 2007 a principle member of the “Nation Beat” collective, a Brooklyn-based ensemble. On that group’s recent recording, “Maracatuniversal”, she was the lead singer and percussionist. She also performs regularly with Montego Joe and The Rhythm Harvest, and Puerto-Rican artists like Juan Usera, and Desmar Guevara, members of Los Pleneros de La 21, the band that was nominated for the 2005 Latin Grammy Award. In addition to these regular relationships, Racha also performs and collaborates with percussionist Jorge Martins from the Grammy nominated ensemble Cascabulho, Jorge Continentino, Billy Newman and the Brazilian Acoustic Ensemble, Frank London, Rob Curto’s Forró for All, Gustavo Dantas and Pedro Ramos from NY’s Choro Ensemble, and other great musicians in New York City and abroad. Catarina was also on tour in Brazil, performing at WOMEX’s Porto Musical Festival with Nation Beat, and with Maracatu Estrela Brilhante, winner of Recife’s Maracatu Competition this year. Catarina is featured in Maracatuniversal, Nation Beat’s debut cd (2006), Maracatu NY, Maracatu NY’s debut cd (2007), and percussionist Jorge Amorim’s Ogum, to be released in 2007.She is also a member of the Juilliard Choral Union, and is now preparing her first cd as a soloist, with her own compositions.

As a music educator, Catarina has worked in New York City as a resident teaching artist at several public schools. She is an artist mentor for the renowned Education for the Arts Org. Young Audiences, for which she has taught voice lessons, percussion and composition. She does the same for Third Street Music School Settlement and for the Dept. of Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has traveled the U.S. performing and doing Master classes at educational institutions including Syracuse University and the University of Florida.