With 18 albums released, nearly 30 years of career, and countless concerts around the world, Cristina Branco is a true ambassador of Portuguese culture. Traditional music is her main aesthetic root, but the influence of jazz, literature, and the musicians she shares the stage with gives her art a universal character and a sublime charm.
Her body of work is a major contribution to the promotion and defense of Portuguese music, language, and authors. In her records, Cristina gives voice to different generations of writers such as António Lobo Antunes, Maria do Rosário Pedreira, José Afonso, Manuela de Freitas, José Mário Branco, Sérgio Godinho, Pedro da Silva Martins, Mário Laginha, Teresinha Landeiro, Jorge Cruz, Francisca Cortesão, among many others.
She began her artistic journey in the Netherlands with Cristina Branco in Holland (1997), an album that went on to become a true success there. In the following years, her name resonated throughout Europe, with sold-out dates in numerous cities. Her next works, Murmúrios (1998) and Post-Scriptum (2000), reinforced this momentum, earning Cristina two Prix Choc awards from Le Monde de La Musique.
This was followed by Abril (2007), an album of songs by José Afonso, Kronos (2009), and Fado Tango (2011), the iconic tenth studio album featuring collaborations with several renowned Portuguese writers. This record anticipated the artistic rebirth of Cristina, which would arrive some years later with Menina.
Voted Best Album of the Year by the Portuguese Society of Authors (SPA), Menina (2016) is the first chapter of a trilogy that also includes Branco (2018) and Eva (2020). In these works, Cristina Branco brings together unusual collaborations, crossing styles and genres, resulting in unique and innovative interpretations of fado.
In 2022 – celebrating her 25th career anniversary – Cristina Branco performed over 40 concerts across Europe and released Amoras numa Tarde de Outono, an album in collaboration with pianist João Paulo Esteves da Silva.
Her most recent work, Mãe (2023), is a unique musical creation in which Cristina Branco lends her singular, expressive voice to a variety of authors, as has become her artistic tradition. Both on record and live, Mãe offers audiences an original repertoire that takes us on an immersive journey of rediscovery of fado, exploring its emotional depths and nuances. Its lead single, Senhora do Mar Redondo, is proof of this.
In 2024, Abril returned to the Portuguese stage in a captivating performance with arrangements and musical direction by pianist Ricardo Dias. Póvoa de Varzim, Vila Real, Covilhã, Grândola, Loulé (Festival MED), and Lisbon (Teatro Municipal São Luiz) were among the cities that, within the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, hosted this tribute to the repertoire of the singer-songwriter of Liberty. The tour will continue throughout 2025, with a highlight concert on December 17 at Casa da Música in Porto. The singles Teresa Torga, Canção da Paciência, and De Não Saber o Que Me Espera are the most recent and vibrant expression of this tribute, which will shape the program of that special performance in the Invicta city.
“It is possible to listen to this record as if it were a ballet (…) The result is always surprising. And beautiful, it must be said.”
Time Out
“Cristina Branco’s new record is titled Mãe. […] It is, once again, a diamond. […] Branco returns to traditional fado and preserves what is essential: truth.”
Valter Hugo Mãe, in Notícias Magazine
“Fado was her ‘gateway’ into music, but Cristina Branco says it took her 26 years to reach its essence. Mãe, the record that marks this encounter […]”
Público
“There is in Cristina Branco’s music a clarity, almost a translucence, that illuminates the words […] it is music for the heart.”
All Music