Marta Pereira da Costa was born in Lisbon in 1982. Music entered her life early, with piano lessons starting at age four and classical guitar lessons at age eight. However, it was at 18, prompted by her father who took her to a lesson with Carlos Gonçalves, guitarist for Amália Rodrigues, that she first encountered the Portuguese guitar. At the time, she was beginning her degree in Civil Engineering, splitting her time between studies and fado houses, particularly the Clube de Fado in Lisbon. “I could barely play the Portuguese guitar, but I started going there, sitting next to Mário Pacheco [guitarist and manager of the house], learning a few notes, and playing more and more. That's how it all started,” she explains. She participated in Pacheco’s show, resulting in the CD/DVD “A Música e a Guitarra - Clube de Fado,” released worldwide and awarded Best Album of the Year (2005) by Songlines magazine.
Balancing her studies and passion, Marta sought out other guitarists for guidance, including Paulo and Ricardo Parreira, Paulo Soares, Pedro Caldeira Cabral, Ricardo Rocha, Bernardo Couto, and Fontes Rocha, who was also a guitarist for Amália and the Clube de Fado. Fontes Rocha, whom Marta considers her “greatest reference” and “greatest inspiration,” encouraged her daily to continue playing. “I was very fortunate to have spent so much time with him,” she says.
Before embarking on a solo career, Marta contributed to albums by Spanish composer and producer Jaime Roldán and fado singer Rodrigo Costa Félix. She collaborated with the latter on “Fados de Amor,” the first fado album entirely recorded by a female Portuguese guitar player, earning the 2012 Best Album of the Year award from the Amália Rodrigues Foundation.
In 2012, Marta fully dedicated herself to music and the Portuguese guitar, leaving her engineering career behind. Her solo stage debut was in Toronto, and she soon performed in countries such as Brazil, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia, Romania, Tunisia, and Israel. In the USA, she toured the East Coast with Rodrigo Costa Félix, performing at venues like Johnny D's in Boston and Drom in New York. In North America, she also shone in Kansas City, a global jazz hub, conducting workshops on fado and the Portuguese guitar with Costa Félix in universities and high schools. Sharing her art became a source of learning and growth.
In Portugal, she performed at the Centro Cultural de Belém and Casa da Música, among other prestigious venues. These performances solidified her status in the fado scene and national music, earning her the 2014 Instrumentalist Award from the Amália Rodrigues Foundation.
Marta not only mastered the extensive repertoire of the Portuguese guitar but also ventured into composition. Her frequent visits to fado houses allowed her the freedom to play, improvise, and experiment. Inspired by this environment, she created pieces like “Minha Alma” for a short film by director Ana Rocha, followed by “Viagem,” “Movimento,” and “Terra,” the lead single of her debut album, released in May 2016 by Warner Music Portugal. Produced by Filipe Raposo, the album featured guest artists such as Camané, Dulce Pontes, Pedro Jóia, Rui Veloso, Cameroonian bassist Richard Bona, and Iranian singer Tara Tiba, highlighting her desire to bridge musical genres and dialogue with fado, jazz, and world music.
During the album’s launch at a sold-out Teatro Tivoli BBVA in Lisbon, Marta realized, “Feeling the audience’s energy became addictive.” Her debut album and talent opened doors to new challenges, stages, and collaborations, taking her back to the international stage with greater confidence and clarity.
In Portugal, she toured extensively with her first album, with standout performances at the NOS Alive festival and a two-hour concert for 100,000 people during São João night in Porto. Accompanied by the Gospel Collective choir and rapper Bezegol, she demonstrated stylistic versatility with the Portuguese guitar. She also collaborated with Cape Verdean morna legend Tito Paris, jazz saxophonist Ricardo Toscano, and Alentejo singing groups, always aiming to open doors, build bridges, and take the Portuguese guitar further. Upon returning to Brazil, there was a live performance with Toquinho, in São Paulo, and an invitation from the conductor and cellist Jaques Morelenbaum to participate in his show at the Trancoso Jazz Festival.
From 2016 to 2023, Marta continued to build her international career, performing in the UAE, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Morocco, Peru, and Senegal. In the USA, she embarked on a coast-to-coast tour in 2019, including the prestigious SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, with sold-out shows at the Lincoln Center in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her performance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk concert in late 2023 was a significant milestone, with nearly 1 million views, giving her an enormous platform to showcase the Portuguese guitar globally.
2024 is the year of consolidation for Marta Pereira da Costa who, from March to April, in 35 days and 12 concerts, traveled around the world, highlighting some of her performances such as WOMADelaide Australia, Savannah Music Festival, Joe’s Pub, United Nations, Macau, and Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Barcelona, while preparing for the release of her second album on May 10. “It will be a landmark in my career and a moment of affirmation,” she emphasizes.
“Sem Palavras”, her new full-length album, is the result of the encounter between Marta’s portuguese guitar and the piano of Latin Grammy winner Iván Melón Lewis. Recorded in Madrid, at Estúdio Cezanne Producciones, and entirely performed and produced by the two musicians. The setlist includes songs by the guitarist, such as the first single, “Dia de Feira”, and blends classics of fado and jazz.
Live performances of “Sem Palavras” combine music, dance, and fashion, with Marta presenting a new image designed by Dentsu Creative Portugal and a dress by Constança Entrudo, symbolizing her mission to take fado to the world and bring the world to fado.
In a sold out Suggia Hall at Casa da Música, Marta took another confident step in her career, by performing her second album live for the first time in Portugal. After that she headed to Brazil to perform at the Fado Festival in Historic Cities and to make her debut at the legendary Blue Note Sao Paulo, sharing the stage with her very special guest, Jaques Morelenbaum. She later headed to India for two more concerts, where she will return in early 2025.
In December, she will perform solo with the Macau Chinese Orchestra.
“I know I play with a lot of passion, and that is my truth,” says Marta Pereira da Costa, a guitarist with an endless universe within her.