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Arts & Culture: Meet two lovely additions to local music scene

Jessica Lloyd and Louis Simão relocated to the Nickel City just over a year ago for a change of scenery, and they brought their considerable music chops with them
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Wander Food & Wine will present Fado artists Jessica Lloyd and Louis Simão during an evening of Portuguese wines and food Nov. 5. A second Portuguese event is scheduled for Nov. 26.

Two new faces and welcome additions to Sudbury's arts scene are Jessica Lloyd and Louis Simão.

The duo are talented and accomplished musicians who in the short time they have lived in the city have already contributed so much.

Simão, in addition to being a composer, multi-instrumentalist and instructor, performed a minor miracle this spring as co-ordinator of the new Sudbury Music Festival (formerly the Kiwanis Festival). With very little lead time, he put together a successful virtual event. 

"Working against a succession of very tight deadlines, he worked diligently with members of the festival board to create a new festival website, update the registration forms, hire the adjudicators, and re-organize and facilitate the delivery of the festival in April 2022 in a completely online format," said Sudbury Music Festival board chair Ralph McIntosh. 

"After the festival's conclusion, Louis arranged for the compilation of a festival highlights and awards video recording, created all of the participant certificates, and co-ordinated the process of allocating and distributing monetary awards sponsored by various individuals and organizations. 

In September, as co-ordinator of Jazz Sudbury, Simão assisted the volunteer board in planning the first live festival in two years and figured out how to move it from an outdoor venue into a new home, Place des Arts, last month.

He has renewed his contracts for both festivals in 2023. (Registration information for the 2023 Sudbury Music Festival will go online Nov. 1.)

Having several jobs to stitch together a living is nothing new for most Canadian artists.

Lloyd is a teacher with the Rainbow District School Board while she pursues her career as a singer with genre-crossing vocal abilities. She can sing in six languages and has performed with ensembles such as Tapestry New Opera Works, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Canadian Opera Company. She was is a founding member of the a cappella trio, Wayward Sister.

The couple introduced Sudbury to Fado music last summer at a Jazzed Up Downtown concert. They also performed during the downtown art crawl this spring.

Fado is best known as the urban popular music of Lisbon, Portugal. The music is often mournful and its varied influences can be traced to the early 19th century.

Simão is careful to explain he and Lloyd present their own interpretation and the Canadian-born performers are not purists.

After many attempts, he has given up trying to learn how to play the 12-steel string Portuguese guitar associated with Fado.

"I am not a purist and that takes some off some of the pressure," he said.

Simão, who plays bass as well as accordion, has performed and/or recorded with Patricia Cano among others. In 2017, he won the International Portuguese Music Award for song of the year and he was named World Solo Artist of the Year by the Canadian Folk Music Awards for his first solo release, “A Luz” (The Light). In 2018, he was nominated by the Independent Music Awards for World Beat Artist of the Year.

Lloyd, who was the former head of music at prestigious Havergal College in Toronto, is a classical trained mezzo-soprano who has also performed with a Big Band. She was interested in Portuguese music and about eight years ago was delighted to meet her future partner and collaborator, who is of Portuguese heritage. 

Simão was not initially interested in performing Fado but has learned to enjoy this connection to his roots.

"I thought of it as my parents' music...We are doing an updated version," he said.

"Fado music is a form of Portuguese singing that is often associated with pubs, cafés, and restaurants," states Portugalonline.com. "This music genre officially originated in Portugal around the 1820s, though it is thought to have much earlier origins. Fado is known for how expressive and profoundly melancholic it is."

"I'm a sucker for a sad song" said Lloyd. But Fado "is not for everyone."

Just over a year ago, the couple decided they didn't have to live in Toronto to pursue their musical careers. They were looking for a good place to raise their daughter who was about to start school.

Sudbury's size and location were right. Outdoor activities are accessible and it has post-secondary schools. In addition, their daughter could enrol in French immersion and have a chance to practise the language outside of the classroom.

"It was time for a change. Where would we go? Sudbury ticked all the boxes," said Lloyd. 

Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer in Greater Sudbury. Arts & Culture is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.