Arts & Entertainment
Mineola Native’s Song Nominated for Portuguese Music Award
Michelle Ferreira's "Glass of Wine" nominated for 2013 people's choice and song of the year.
Mineola music lovers can vote for one of their own as singer/songwriter Michelle Ferreira has been nominated for an International Portuguese Music Award in the People’s Choice category for her song “Glass of Wine” (Ukoustic).
The new award show was brought to Ferreira’s attention and she submitted her song for the people’s choice category. The song is also under consideration for song of the year.
The full list of nominees can be found here.
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The award show is being held at the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford, MA on Feb. 2. Voting for the people’s choice category ends at midnight on Jan. 26.
Like Mineola, New Bedford boasts a large Portuguese community, something Ferreira was opened up to through this whole experience. Ferreira is of Portuguese descent and began her song writing career upon her return from a visit to the country several years ago.
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“Glass of Wine” is off her debut album “Stories Left Unsaid,” which was released in October 2011.
Ferreira also performed at the 2012 Mineola Street Fair.
Responding to the influence of her Portuguese background on her music she cited with a laugh her nominated song and “the wine, that’s from Portuguese culture.”
The song features the ukulele, which Ferreira taught herself to play, along with the guitar, but regards “my main instrument is my voice. my voice is my instrument.”
She said her album is about “figuring myself out through my own experiences and the experiences of others. Sitting on the subway I look around and think about what others are going through. What's going on in their heads, what they are thinking?”
Ferreira grew up in Mineola and attended Mineola High School where she participated in the theatre groups, with stage performances influencing the album’s title. Her passion for the stage progressed alongside her collegiate career as she went on to attend Pace University.
It was at Pace that she decided to focus her creative energy on making music after her father gave her a guitar to take to college. However, Ferreira wasn’t immediately drawn to the instrument, which gathered dust until one day she decided to pick it up and play, teaching herself, along with some help from the internet.
“I don’t favor one type of music, a lot of indie music but pop, rock, Motown, jazz…pretty much everything” Ferreira said. “I can listen to the Beatles anytime.”
Contemporary indie artists take up a large part of her playlist too such as singer/songwriters Jason Mraz and Ingrid Michaelson.
“Also as far as what I listen to, doesn’t entirely reflect the kind of music I write but I am influenced by many artists,” she said. “I want to develop my own sound.”
Currently she is working on her second album.
