Vera Morais

Vera Morais is a Portuguese singer, improviser and composer based in Amsterdam. Her work focuses on the permeability between composition and improvisation and on the many sonic and expressive dimensions of the voice.

She frequently performs in duo with the saxophonist Hristo Goleminov, with the genre-bending toy ensemble Novelo Vago, and with her ensemble of voices and flutes EUPNEA. In 2024 she premiered “é apenas um pouco tarde”, an instruction piece for improvisers and contemporary music performers, which was commissioned by Festival Porta-Jazz (Porto, PT).

Besides her individual practice, Vera conducts the Queer Choir Amsterdam – an artistic and social initiative by artists Shreya de Souza, Mylou Oord and Rah Naqvi – since its foundation in 2021. She is also one of the co-founders of Orbits, an artistic collective committed to supporting and developing the Amsterdam jazz and improvised music scene, and is co-curator in the concert series Improbellissimo alongside Raoul van der Weide.

Vera has studied at Conservatório de Música do Porto (PT), Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (PT) and at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (NL). In 2024, she received the prize for “Emerging Artist of the Year” from RTP/Festa do Jazz (Portugal).

Awards

Prémios RTP/Festa do Jazz “Artista Revelação” (Portugal, 2024)

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