Laura Mvula: A Soulful Voice That Once Answered Phones
A few years ago, Laura Mvula was a receptionist. Now, she's touring the U.S. with her debut album.READ MORE
Font size:
A |
A |
A |
A
Brazilian cellist and singer Dom La Nena's debut album is titled Ela.
Courtesy of the artist
Hear the story from NPR:
Dom La Nena releases her debut album, Ela, which she says is inspired by childhood nostalgia.
When she was just 13, Dom La Nena left her home in Brazil for Argentina to study the cello. La Nena, whose real name is Dominique Pinto, has devoted her life to mastering that one instrument.
In fact, part of the artist's name, la nena, which means girl in South American Spanish dialects, reflects the fact that she moved to Argentina at a young age.
"My family and my friends and everyone called me La Nena because I was always the little one, because I went there very young to study cello," Pinto tells NPR. "I was always with people older than me."
La Nena began studying music at the age of 4, first on the piano. Just a couple of years later, she knew she wanted to play the cello. She says that by the age of 10, when she was living with her family in Paris, her desire to play the cello was cemented, yet a year later her family returned to Brazil. There, she says, she did not find a school to study the cello, so she decided to move to Argentina.
"I [made] a very big sacrifice because I went to Argentina ... without my family," Pinto says. "So, it's a very, very intense relationship with my cello because I have sacrificed many things for him but I don't have regrets."
On her recently released debut album Ela, her cello shares the spotlight with her own voice, as well as piano and guitars.
The end result is a sound that is both gentle and haunting. Listen to a selection of her music and La Nena's story in her own words by clicking the audio link at the top of this page.
Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.9(MDA1MTczMTM4MDEyNzM1OTUxMzg5ZDUyMw004))
Filed in:
Also in Music Interviews
READ MORE
Marques Toliver: An R&B Crooner With Strings Attached
Toliver's music is anchored by the violin, on which he is classically trained.READ MORE
Bobby McFerrin: Spirituals As Sung Prayers
Spirityouall, a collection of old and original spirituals, was influenced by the singer's father.READ MORE
Sam Amidon: Reshaping An American Folk Tradition
Amidon says the melodies of shape-note hymns are some of the "deepest-seated for me."READ MORE
Daft Punk On 'The Soul That A Musician Can Bring'
Hear the elusive electronic duo in conversation with All Things Considered's Audie Cornish.READ MORE
Billboard Country Airplay chart. From left: co-songwriters Jimmy Yeary, Connie Harrington and Jessi Alexander, military father Paul Monti and singer Lee Brice.">
A Songwriter And An Army Dad Share One Touching Story
"I Drive Your Truck" is a No. 1 country hit, and a tribute to the man who unwittingly inspired it.READ MORE
