Catarina Avelar spends her days as a social worker in Fall River. At night, she sings fado, a style of Portuguese music known for its tragic lyrics and haunting melodies. And even though she once dreamed of becoming a full-time fado singer, there’s an unintended benefit to Catarina’s double life. The sadness she feels as she helps families struggling with poverty and addiction infuses her singing with emotion. Ironically the job that led her to give up her dream has made her a better singer.
This piece came to us from our production partners at Atlantic Public Media through their media training program, The Transom Story Workshop in Woods Hole. Barbara Paulsen is a recent graduate from the workshop - you can find out more about the program at Transom.org.
Creative Life is edited by Jay Allison and made possible by the Circle of Ten - ten local businesses and organizations committed to local programming on WCAI.
