Radio listeners across the U.S. can learn about and listen to the vibrant sounds of Lisbon, Portugal’s music scene when it is featured on World Cafe, the daily music and interview program distributed by NPR. Lisbon’s diverse musical sounds will be heard in World Cafe’s “Sense of Place: Lisbon” series from Thursday, Sept. 28 through Wednesday, Oct. 4.
Since 2011, the World Cafe team (based at public radio station WXPN/Philadelphia, which produces World Cafe) has visited musical hotspots around the globe, where each city’s sights and sounds reverberate through exclusive interviews and studio sessions with local musicians and musical influencers. The resulting “Sense of Place” feature is heard by listeners of the 280 radio stations nationwide that carry World Cafe and online, with past sessions archived at World Cafe on NPR Music.
To bring the modern music of Lisbon to American listeners, World Cafe Host Raina Douris and Senior Producer Kimberly Junod visited some of the city’s prominent studios to record interviews and exclusive music sessions with some of its most renowned artists.
“Lisbon is a diverse, colorful, soulful city with an impressively deep ocean of music to explore,” said Douris. “Each of the artists we profiled in Lisbon come from different backgrounds, but each bring a passion to their work that has fueled their artistic journeys – and reminds you that music is one of the most integral ways we have to share the human experience, no matter where we are from or where we are going.”
Highlights that can be heard during “Sense of Place: Lisbon” are:
Thursday, Sept. 28: At Casa Independente arts space, singer-songwriter Maria Reis, who has recorded two albums with American musician Panda Bear, talks with host Raina Douris about the Cafetra Records indie label she founded in 2008, among other topics. Listeners will also be treated to hearing her perform some unreleased new songs.
Friday, Sept. 29: On the release date of his new album Timbre, listeners will hear internationally known singer Salvador Sobral in this interview and performance session recorded at Namouche Studios. Sobral gave Portugal its first Eurovision song contest win in 2017, when he won both the televote and jury vote with his performance of “Amor pelos dois,” which is still the highest-scoring in contest history.
