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Sara Serpa will participate virtually in the following event, taking place on May 28th at Museu do Aljube, in Lisboa:

16h/18h30h – Fifth Circle: Unlearning Colonialism: ways of seeing and knowing

16h/16h20 – Inês Beleza Barreiros, presentation theme and authors

16h20/17h05 – Screening of excerpts from ANTICORPO: a Parody on the Colonial Ambition (Patrícia Lino, 2019-20, 44’); Teko Haxy – ser imperfeita (Patrícia Ferreira and Sophia Pinheiro, 2018, 39’) e Recognition (Sara Serpa, 2020, 56’). 

17h05-18h30 – Talk with Patrícia Ferreira, Sophia Pinheiro, Patrícia Lino and Sara Serpa, moderated by Inês Beleza Barreiros. 

No history of decolonization or of decolonizing praxes is ever completed without attention to gender. How did women view the liberation struggles in the former Portuguese colonies? How were their ways of seeing integrated or not in the imagination of colonialism? Was there a specific gaze to women over the liberation struggles? What knowledge and awareness do we have of/about these ways of seeing? And how do these ways of seeing intersect with those of contemporary filmmakers, artists, curators and academics who are now questioning public and private archives, are visually recreating their memories or re-imagining colonialism? What role academic research, archive conservation policies, programming and curatorship have in questioning or prolonging (official) “politics of memory”?

GATHERING(S) Gendering Decolonizations: Ways of Seeing and Knowing intends to contribute to the debate.

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M³ released The Art Of Being True: M³ Anthology of Writings, the first of an archive of writings by the first cohort of M³ artists that aims to take control of the narrative with regard to the work of underrepresented musicians. The anthology was released on International Jazz Day, Friday, April 30, and is available from online literary arts publication, Publik / Private, for free. 

The Art Of Being True: M³ Anthology of Writings aims to expand M³’s mission, by empowering and elevating narratives by musicians of underrepresented gender identities including musicians marginalized on the basis of race, sexuality, or ability. It features contributions by M³’s inaugural Summer Solstice 2020 cohort’s performer-composers: Romarna Campbell (UK), drums; Caroline Davis (New York), saxophone; Eden Girma, (US / UK), voice, multi-instrumentalist; Val Jeanty (Haiti / New York City), percussion, electronics, turntables; Maya Keren (Philadelphia), piano; Erica Lindsay (Rosendale, NY), tenor sax; Lesley Mok (New York City), drums; Tomeka Reid (Chicago / New York City), cello; Sara Serpa (Portugal / New York City), voice; Jen Shyu (New York City / East Timor), voice, multi-instrumentalist; Anjna Swaminathan (Brooklyn), violin, voice, multi-disciplinary theatre artist; and Sumi Tonooka (Philadelphia), piano.

The pieces range from essays and poetry on creative expression, composition, mentoring, artistic statements, to personal experiences in music, grief, motherhood, mental health, and fertility treatment, The Art Of Being True: M³ Anthology of Writings reveals the artists’ inner world that the M³ founders say have largely been ignored and diminished in the music field, one in which non-male voices are powerful creators, listeners and critics. M³ founders Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa say:

We wanted to create an archive of writings that takes control of the narrative with regards to underrepresented musicians. We envision it as a legacy for future generations in which authorship and power shifts towards women and non-binary musicians while decentering white patriarchy in music.

Jordannah Elizabeth, the founder of Publik / Private and also Mutual Mentorship forMusicians’ Editor-in-Chief, adds:

Women in jazz and creative music fight through the disparity of representation, and it takes bravery to work in such a medium and male-dominated realm. This anthology is a testament that art must prevail within the prison of others’ perceptions.

For more information about the M³ model, see the original announcement of the project, as well as MutualMentorshipForMusicians.org. Inquiries about the initiative may be directed to info@MutualMentorshipForMusicians.org.

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The Europe Day Event 2021, on 5 May 2021, 1.00pm EST  is devoted to gender equality stories -displaying EU efforts, in partnership with the UN, in achieving &supporting Women’s & Girls’ Rights around the world.

There will be video messages of Josep Borrell, EU High Representative/Vice-President & Helena Dalli, EU Commissioner for Equality, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcukainterview by EU trainees, Irina Sukhy, Women Environmental Human Rights Defender,Ecohome co-founder, Belarus, Sara Serpa, vocalist, composer & gender equality activist and a performance by Mycale featuring Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Sofia Rei, Sara Serpa & Malika Zarra. Mycale is a group of four vocalists-arrangers, put together by John Zorn in 2009 to create an acapella quartet that would collaboratively arrange selections from his Book of Angels compositions. 

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Sara Serpa will premiere her new piece Miniatures online, commissioned by the Jazz Coalition, on Thursday, April 22nd, at the Biophilia Records Festival.

Featuring Sara Serpa on voice and André Matos on guitar, Miniatures is a reflection on Serpa’s experience during the Covid-19 pandemic in New York. The piece is divided in 4 parts: 1. News Cycle, 2. Optimism and Despair (with text by Zadie Smith), 3. How Can I Create? , 4. Watching You Grow. Video was created by Mariana Meraz.

To sign up for the Biophilia Records Festival, click here.

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Sara Serpa is included in the list of nominees for the 2021 Jazz Journalists Awards, in the Female Vocalist of the Year category.

Nominees in most categories were chosen by the votes of the Professional Journalist Members of the Jazz Journalists Association. Nominations were made on the basis of work done in calendar year 2020, with the exception of Lifetime Achievement Awards categories, in which nominations are for a lifetime body of work. For more info on the nominees click here.

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Sara Serpa was voted #1 Vocals of the Year 2020 by the NPR (National Public Radio) Jazz Critics Poll.

“Below are the results of NPR Music’s 8th Annual Jazz Critics Poll (my 15th, going back to the poll’s beginnings in the Village Voice). These are the jazz albums that lit up a dark, unsettling year. Maria Schneider’s Data Lords was the critics choice — no surprise, though relative unknown Sara Serpa’s victory in the Vocal category in a year when both Kurt Elling and Gregory Porter released new albums was.” Click here to read more.

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Recognition has been included in several Best of 2020 and Releases of the Year 2020:

The 2020 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

The Wire Magazine

New York Music Daily

Plastic Sax

The Jazz Trail

The Absolute Sound

The New Noise

Jazz.pt Magazine

Downbeat Magazine Top-Rated Albums of 2020

Additionally, Sara Serpa was featured as:

Vocals #1 – NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll 2020

Musician of the Year 2020 – Jazz.pt Magazine

Female Vocalist of 2020 – El Intruso

Mulheres Que Causaram Ondas em 2020 – Rimas e Batidas

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“M³ is a revolutionary new model for mentorship which was created by co-founders Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa in March and launched in June 2020 at the height of the pandemic. The founders describe M³ as “a think tank for new ways to connect, collaborate, support, create, and empower womxn musicians worldwide including BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and musicians of all abilities across generations.”

To celebrate these first two concerts of this new initiative, we asked the twelve initial participating musicians about why they decided to participate in this opportunity and how mutual mentorship and creative collaboration have affected their artistic process. New Music USA is funding the next round of M³ collaborations. “

Read more here.