Welcome
RAMOS DE MORNA
“Ramos de Morna” is a project that aims to take “Morna”, an emblematic musical genre of Cape Verde, to the academic musical field. The mastery and understanding of the musical practices associated with Morna will be acquired through workshops and a final concert that will comprise the taught contents.
The workshops, that will consist in two intensive days, will be directed by Humberto Ramos (1967), composer, pianist, teacher and orchestrator, having as target audience all music students and instrumentalists who want to learn or deepen their knowledge about this music genre.
Project Presentation
Our project aims to take Morna to other stages, namely the academic field.
Recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, it’s essential that Morna is taken to the rest of the World so that it can be studied, performed and taught. Since Cesária Évora, one of the main ambassadors of the cape verdean traditional music in the World, that Morna has been performed and listened to in countries of every continent. However, despite the remarkable interest that moves crowds of all countries to listen to this type of music, there has never been a project before that aimed to do more than just the presentation and performance of Morna.
RAMOS DE MORNA is a pilot project regarding cape verdean music because it is the only one that introduces a pedagogical and academic character, aiming to leave in each school a more intimate knowledge of the traditional music of Cape Verde so that it can remain in the music schools for further study, as opposed to the episodic and momentary place that it has taken until now in most diaspora countries.
The workshops that we are proposing are common practice in music schools around the world, a well known way of musical enrichment of the students – workshops never before developed in what regards traditional music of Cape Verde, with highly specialized instructors in Morna, namely Humberto Ramos, who recorded and went on tours with the most recognized artists of Cape Verde, including Cesária Évora. He is now the music director of the project “Tribute a Cesária Évora” that keeps taking cape verdean music to stages all over the world.