Carlos Leitão

Carlos Leitão is a singer-songwriter, singing, writing, composing and playing classical guitar. 

He started singing from an early age and, at 10 years old, won the “Grande Noite do Fado” contest in the Youth category, at the Coliseu dos Recreios, in Lisbon. At age 11, he began taking lessons in classical guitar and soon started performing by himself or in the company of other fado singers. 

At the same time, he shared the sage with famous performers such as Cristina Branco, Custódio Castelo, Marco Rodrigues, Mário Pacheco, Cuca Roseta, Jorge Fernando and many others. 

Carlos successfully graduated from college with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and, between the ages of 18 and 30, worked professionally as a journalist, while always remaining dedicated to performing as a musician. 

In 2010, he left journalism behind to fully pursue a career in music, since then becoming a mainstay of Clube de Fado, a renowned venue in Lisbon.

At 33, Carlos Leitão reached his artistic maturity, taking shape in his first musica record, “Do Quarto” (“From the Bedroom”), produced and released in 2013 and featuring guest singer Gisela João.

With the release of “Sala de Estar” (“Living Room”) in 2017, the fado singer began a two-year tour taking to diverse stages such as the Belém Cultural Center (Lisbon), St. John’s Fair and Garcia de Resende Theatre (both in Évora), Arraiolos Castle, Corroios Festivities, Radio Amália Spring Festival, “Viva a Música” (Antena 1 radio show), Saint Anthony’s Museum of Lisboa, Fado Museum and many others. 

He was equally Fado’s representative at “O Tapete Está na Rua” (folk cultural event in Arraiolos), opened for Ana Moura at the Montepio Fado Cascais Festival and was the closing act the Santa Casa Alfama Festival, taking the stage in the Fado Museum.

Rounding out 2017, he was awarded Best Musician by the Mais Alentejo magazine. 

Now 40, Carlos Leitão reveals security, maturity and consistency. In fado and in life, he takes his steps “slowly but surely”, as he says, and that brought him the balance and quality that is the hallmark of his work.

His concerts are an intense voyage through original musical pieces and traditional fado. A native of Lisbon by birth but a son of Alentejo for love, Carlos Leitao focus his repertoire in themes from his first record, “Do Quarto”, fado songs that he has always sung, and from his latest work, “Sala de Estar”, performing his own lyrics, with musical interpretation from famous names from Portuguese music such as Mário Pacheco, Jorge Fernando, Rui Veloso and Júlio Resende, as well as many others. 

Carlos Leitão turns any stage into a “Living Room”, cozy, open and friendly, like the family gatherings that are the norm in Alentejo, a space for sharing truths in which Carlos reveals himself completely, in every performance.

2019 was the year he committed himself almost exclusively to his third original album. “Casa Vazia” (“Empty House”) was born at the end of the year and featured many guests, including Eurovision Song Contest winner Salvador Sobral, João Só, Marco Rodrigues, Júlio Machado Vaz, Tó Zé Brito, Marco Horácio, Júlio Resende and many others.

The record debuted in the Espaço M Concert Hall, in both Lisbon and Porto, in the Noble Hall of the Arraiolos City Hall and in the Villaret Theatre in Lisbon.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic led Carlos Leitão to rediscover prose writing, having accepted the challenge of writing a chronicle for a weekly magazine and launching, for the first time, two short stories: “Santo Covid” and “Blue, a gata dos olhos verdes", the latter for a children's audience.

With the gradual return to normality, Carlos went to the studio to complete his album “Simples”, released in February 2022. Ten of the eleven songs were written and composed by Carlos and the last track was written by Tiago Torres da Silva and composed by Paulo de Carvalho. Considered by himself as his best album, Carlos has his usual musicians: Henrique Leitão and Bruno Chaveiro (Portuguese guitars), Luís Pontes (viola) and Carlos Menezes (bass).

Source:

VS Management