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"Duda Lucena, singer and composer from Pernambuco (Recife, Brazil) creates exquisite, romantic music, reminiscent of all the great Brazilian vocalists of the sixties who first introduced the rest of the world to Brazil's unique sound, but with a modern freshness and originality," wrote MARILYN M. GRAHAM, music critic for Destino magazine in Los Cabos, Mexico. With the gift of his first acoustic guitar at the age of twelve, Duda Lucena began composing his first songs inspired by his afternoon visits listening to the Pernambuco Symphonic Orchestra at Teatro Santa Isabel. By nineteen, he was studying classical guitar and receiving musical training from the distinguished Music Conservatory of Pernambuco. Lucena began working immediately as a professional musician performing in the best theaters throughout his hometown (Recife, Brazil) like the Apolo Theatre, Teatro do Parque and Teatro Valdemar de Oliveira. In 1987, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, seeking more knowledge in a new musical universe by studying musical arrangement, composition and harmony with Ian Guest at CIGAM, a school based upon the Berklee College of Music. Since this time, Lucena has been influenced by and performed his original compositions with musicians from America, England, Cuba and Mexico playing with them throughout Brazil, Mexico and the USA. Duda Lucena’s compositions and performances are centered upon Brazilian bossa nova, baião and samba but also incorporate the African roots of the sophisticated jazz and blues movement. Always including his original music, Lucena has performed in a variety of nightclubs, theaters, festivals and venues, such as the Diana Worthum Theatre (Asheville, NC - USA) for the Western North Carolina Jazz Society, Los Cabos Jazz Festival (Los Cabos - Mexico), Charleston Jazz Society (Charleston, SC – USA), Cenpes Theatre of the Petrobras Company (Brazil), Sala Baden Powell Theatre (Rio - Brazil) with the Outrossim Musical Movement, Big Sur Spirit Garden (USA), Ponta Da Bossa Nova (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) and many others. You can listen to Duda Lucena’s original compositions on his latest Cd, Sol. Today, living in Charleston, SC, many ideas have matured and certain creative thoughts and styles have changed with time, but his convictions remain the same. Duda Lucena believes in hard work, good Brazilian music, and most of all, his own original compositions.