Michelle Pereira

Michelle Pereira

A Pear Tree Grows In California
Michael Holloway

Born: Michelle Pereira
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Birthplace: San Mateo, California

“Growing up with a last name Pereira pronounced PARAYDA, meaning Pear Tree, wasn’t easy. Nobody knew how to spell or pronounce it. I am first generation American, my mother is from Portugal. Yet, like many first generation Americans, I knew so little about my heritage. I didn’t realize they even had songs there! What I found was that few people knew anything about the most western country in Europe and even sadder, could point to it on a map.”

~ Michelle Pereira

Fado In My Life

In 2008, Michelle Pereira released a stunning album entitled In My Life (Na Minha Vida) which is only available for purchase on her website. On the album, Pereira performs a delightful cover of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s “In My Life,” which had previously been a huge hit for Bette Midler, being performed on the soundtrack of her 1992 film For The Boys. Also featured on Pereira’s album are a rich tapestry of Fado style music, popular in Portugal, and gaining a sporadic following in other areas of the world.

Popular (and ignorant) opinion once spoke of Fado as being “a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor,” but the truth is, it is about so much more and can have any theme, but it must follow a particular structure to be considered as true Fado.

The music style is linked to the Portuguese word saudade, which in translation has no English equivalent, but is a word describing a sentiment, or more specifically, “as nostalgia felt while missing something or someone important.” There are some enthusiasts who claim that Fado is derivative of traditional African slave rhythms combined with the traditional music of Portuguese sailors, with some Arabian influences. However, this is not entirely accurate. Fado really only appeared in Lisbon, Portugal, after 1840, at which time only two known variations were sung, fado marinheiro and cantigas de levantar ferro, and these were usually sung only by sailors. Fado was unheard in the rest of the country, and even in Spain where the Arabian influence took hold until the end of the 15th Century. Only in the beginning of the 19th Century was Fado given an official written record. There is much to learn about Fado, and much information can be found at this website.

According to Stephen Brooks of the Washington Post, Fado is described as “…Not for the timid. Passionate and uninhibited, it revels in drama, diving recklessly into the dark pathos of the human heart. In the hands of its best interpreters, fado’s power can be primal and almost overwhelming, and it’s starting to catch on with audiences around the world”.
Pereira herself describes her fascination for Fado: “I don’t consider myself a Fadista, but rather a singer with a love and respect for the Portuguese culture and it’s most characteristic manifestation, The Fado. Coming to Portugal was a challenge to uncover another truth of myself, I am Luso Americana. Like so many other First Generations, we have one foot in our native country and another in our parents’ customs and traditions. That should be celebrated. I can’t express how happy I am to finally be able to speak Portuguese with my family.”
The Pereira Family History
When she was just four years old, Michelle Pereira told her preschool teachers that more than anything, she wanted to be a singer/dancer/actress, in fact she did not just want this, she was going to be this, she told everyone. Although she eventually made her dream a reality through training, hard work, and her own natural talent, this was not an easy path for Pereira. Her mother, Maria Carmen Pereira, had emigrated from the Portuguese island, Sao Jorge and relocated to San Mateo, California where Pereira had grown up with her twin brother Joey. Although Pereira’s mother had struggled all her life, working hard to raise her children, she realised the passion and dedication her daughter felt and gave her all the love and support she could, which is equally a thankful blessing for fans of Michelle whose lives have in turn been enriched and inspired by this amazing woman’s talent and her beautiful heart and soul.

“My mother had worked so hard all of her life for me to have opportunities she didn’t. How was I supposed to tell a woman who cleaned floors for a living that I was going to act and sing, and that I could be paid for doing it? Tough as it might’ve been, she gave me her blessings”.

After graduating from Piedmont Hills High School, Pereira was accepted as a student in the prestigious Boston Conservatory of Music with the aid of a scholarship. Despite her initial shyness and feeling of being overwhelmed, Pereira soon settled in with her classmates and peers, and proved herself to be a virtuoso performer, encouraged by classmates and teachers alike.

“I remember looking around the classroom and being amazed by all the talent in the room. At the Conservatory the students were the best of the best. Aside from the plays and musicals in High School, I didn’t have the previous training they all had. Hell, I sang to an audience of stuffed teddy bears until I was 15.”

Pereira played lead roles in various productions and worked professionally during both the school year and summer vacations. This would lead to her being offered a role in Fame – The Musical which toured extensively in Berlin, Germany. She had previously moved to New York City, where she would also appear on stage in productions such as Just So, Fascinating Gershwin, Nunsense, Tony ‘N’ Tina’s Wedding, Grease, Godspell, and The Who’s Tommy. She also participated in extensive workshops for New Musicals and Cabarets.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Pereira left New York for Los Angeles, where even more opportunities appeared before her. She appeared in various animated voice over projects, performed as a session singer for recording studios, she appeared in the last episode of the iconic 90’s sitcom Friends, and appeared in a multitude of TV commercials (Coke, Apple Computers, and United States Mint to name just three.)

The Ten Commandments

In 2004, Pereira was given another chance to share her warmth and passion for music. She was offered the role of Yokebed, the birth mother of Moses (played superbly by Val Kilmer) in Ten Commandments: The Musical at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Along with Kilmer and Pereira, the musical also starred Lauren Kennedy, Nita Whitaker, Luba Mason, Kevin Earley, Aharon Ipale, Adam Lambert, Nicholas Rodriguez, and Alisan Porter. While reviews were mixed according to the critics, the fan response was overwhelming and the show proved to be an artistic, if not commercial, success. The production is available on DVD which I have seen many times and love more each time I see it, this is where I first discovered Pereira’s talents and I was immediately captivated by her beauty, warmth, passion, and powerful voice.

Pereira performed an amazingly staged duet with Luba Mason “If I Can Let You Go” where Pereira puts baby Moses in the basket to set him afloat on the Nile, while Mason stands at the other end of the stage ready to rescue him. Both Moses’ birth mother and his adoptive mother sing of their respective heartbreak of having to abandon a baby to save his life, and joy at being able to care for new life in a simultaneous tour de force of maternal poignancy. It is truly an emotional song. The other notable song in which Pereira graces the audience is “Where We Belong” which she shares again with Mason, and Nita Whitaker as Moses’ wife Zipporah. This performance by Pereira, Mason, and Whitaker takes an interesting theme of two mothers and a wife discussing their son’s/husband’s inspiring influence in their lives and turns it into a breathtakingly soul enriching masterpiece, it is my favourite song in the entire musical. Pereira also appears on stage, albeit less so, during songs such as Porter and Lambert’s “Horns Of Jericho” (which she does also sing part of) as well as Kilmer and Earley’s thundering crescendo “The Plagues,” and the brilliant “Prayer For Life” finale ensemble and curtain call.

Unfortunately, although a CD soundtrack is rumoured to have been made, it has never been released. However, here is a video of Pereira and Mason performing “If I Can Let You Go”, the opening number.
Trip To Portugal

In September 2005, Pereira decided to visit Portugal, despite not knowing a word of Portuguese nor knowing any of the people she wanted to visit. One of the primary reasons for the trip was so Pereira could learn all she could about Fado. The exotic sensory details of her stay in Portugal are vividly recalled.

“Two days after I arrived, I was walking down a cobblestone street in The Bairro Alto on a warm September evening. What I heard stopped me in my tracks. I followed the music until it brought me to this small taberna. I peeked through the wooden shudders and I was blown away. Through the layer of cigarette smoke I could see wooden tables and faces, old and young, practically sitting on each other. Not a sound was heard except for the guitar players and this woman with a black shawl, eyes closed, screaming out words I didn’t understand.”

As I stated before, this style of music had never been previously written down, so Pereira went with a tape recorder in hand and visited all the places she could find where Fado music was being sung. She also took a dictionary so she could write down all the words and learn how to spell them phonetically so she could translate them into English. She was also invited to be the first “foreigner” to sing professionally at the famed Casa de Fado house in Lisbon.

“My dear friend Ana Lucia Macedo asked me or rather told me that I would be singing in her restaurant. I looked at her and told her she was crazy that I only knew two songs. ‘You’ll learn more,’ she replied. And I did.”

Learn she did, and Pereira achieved this by watching and studying other fadistas and has since been invited to sing at many Nights Of Fado festivals as well as establishments such as Tasco Do Chico, Casa Do Algarve, Nobre Vadio, Canto do Camoes, Caldo Verde, and LUSO.
Which brings us to Pereira’s next endeavour which is where this article started, her CD, which is a culmination of everything Pereira has learned about Fado, her heritage and culture, which she has then interpreted in her own rich, warm, heartfelt voice and perspective.

“I wanted to record my journey here in Portugal. In My Life is more than just a CD, it is an opportunity for me to share with the world this beautiful music from my point of view. In My Life is dedicated to my family and my Lusitanian Heritage. There are so many people who have helped me during this journey and I am forever thankful for their support”.
It is we who are truly blessed and thankful for the beautiful gift that Michelle Pereira has given to us, and if you would like to order her CD or visit her online, you can do so here:

Michelle Pereira Official MySpace

Michelle Pereira Official Facebook

In My Life/Na Minha Vida Official CD Page

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