Virtual Performance & Lecture

Candida Rose is a 2nd generation, Cape Verdean American, born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the cradle of Cape Verdean American history. She is a vocalist, entertainer, songwriter, educator, mother and grandmother.

Graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, Candida holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, and a Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts at Boston’s Transnational, Cultural, and Community Studies Masters Program. Candida Rose released her album, entitled “KabuMerikana: The Sum of ME,” in 2006.

Attendees joined Candida Rose as she examined the processes that allowed Cape Verdeans to establish and maintain their cultural, and especially musical, heritage in North America. Immigrants from Cabo Verde left their homeland in search of a more sustainable life elsewhere, but they never forget where they come from; through folkloric and popular music they continue to keep ties to their homeland. Cape Verdean music developed a transnational cultural field that came to unify Cape Verdeans on both sides of the Atlantic. This hour-long performance and talk explained the embeddedness of traditional music in the daily life of immigrant communities, both in the past and present, illuminated some of the novel contributions of Cape Verdeans and Cape Verdean-Americans to the U.S. musical landscape, and highlighted some of the transnational connections that are still evident within today’s musical community.

View the presentation on the Museum’s YouTube Channel.