The story begins in 2023 with nine exceptional female singers from Portuguese music: Marta Hugon (author and artistic director of the project), Joana Alegre, Elisa Rodrigues, A Garota Não, Aline Frazão, Ana Bacalhau, Joana Espadinha, Joana Machado, and Luísa Sobral, under the musical direction of Luís Figueiredo, who came together to launch CALÍOPE, a record project that culminated in a memorable concert to celebrate International Women’s Day that year, selling out the Maria Matos Theater in Lisbon.
CALÍOPE is an artistic creation and awareness project for gender equality, created with the aim of transforming the public’s perception of the role of women in the music industry. An illustrious group of female composers sing their own creations and, at the same time, send a strong signal of assertion regarding the possibility for all women to lead their own careers.
CALÍOPE presents a series of live shows that are more than an artistic celebration; they are an invitation to reflect on the importance of female representation in music and society. This inspiring force is on the road with singers Marta Hugon, Elisa Rodrigues, and Joana Alegre and musicians Luís Figueiredo (piano), Ana Isabel Dias (harp), Sofia Queiroz (double bass), João Moreira (trumpet), and André Sousa Machado (drums).
In Greek mythology, the nine muses were the “source of inspiration,” but now the situation has changed, and CALÍOPE becomes the creative muse, joining the forefront in the fight against inequalities and prejudice against women, still so present in the artistic world.
“Calíope (single), a song about leaving inner desires at the mercy of free expression, with a beautiful saxophone melody and notes that almost seem to come from a music box.” Rimas & Batidas
“Nine artists who unite talents in this musical celebration of female creation.” Público