{"id":382635,"date":"2025-02-16T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=382635"},"modified":"2025-02-14T16:32:43","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T19:32:43","slug":"a-way-of-being-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/a-way-of-being-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"A way of being in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 The pandemic was a turning point in everyone\u2019s life. Some moved to new cities, others lost their jobs, many mourned losses, and confined at home, everyone reflected on life\u2019s brevity. It was in this context of apprehension and confinement that S\u00e3o Paulo native Samira Chamma<\/a> began composing. Graduated in Architecture and Urbanism and working in the field, she saw music as a pleasure but had never considered art as a profession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the wave of pandemic live streams, she immersed herself in the work of other singers and songwriters like Flaira Ferro and Vanessa Moreno, realizing that music is more than just a profession\u2014it\u2019s a way of being in the world. She took courses, attended workshops, and studied guitar and singing more deeply. By then, she was already involved in groups of composers and artists. A filmmaker from one of these groups asked her for a song for a short film, which encouraged her to release the same track on Spotify, \u201cO vazio\u201d. In March 2022, her first song was out in the world. Or, as she puts it, \u201cIt stopped being mine and became of whoever was listening to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now 29 years old, Samira has been fully dedicated to music for a year and a half, after a period balancing architecture and art. Performing across the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, she has been building partnerships, especially with other women, such as La\u00eds Gomes, with whom she formed a duo. In January, she took part in the album launch show of Coletivo Mulher at the S\u00e3o Paulo Cultural Center, alongside seven other female singers and songwriters. The project emerged from Batucantos, a samba circle created by Carla Franco to celebrate women\u2019s songwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chamma knows she has arrived at a good moment for female songwriters\u2014or at least a better one. \u201cI know that not long ago, women were mostly confined to the role of interpreters, but today, there is more space for those who, besides singing, also compose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Chamma is getting ready to release her first full album\u2014in March, she will launch a crowdfunding campaign to bring the project to life. Estou Viva<\/em> [Portuguese for \u201cI\u2019m Alive\u201d]\u2014the album\u2019s title as well as the name of the show she has already been performing\u2014is an MPB record that blends styles ranging from forr\u00f3 to samba, with hints of blues and ballads. \u201cI\u2019ve never stuck to just one style, and I want to explore all these rhythms, especially those of Brazilian music, the best in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The album is also the culmination of all the experiences she has had in music\u2014\u201cand in this process of self-exploration, the deep dive into finding myself through this new experience,\u201d explains the songwriter. \u201cI\u2019ve been asked why I don\u2019t release the songs gradually, but I feel like they only make sense together. They tell this story,\u201d says Chamma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living off music is still a learning process. For the daughter of an engineer and a nurse who spent decades in the corporate world, it\u2019s necessary to break away from the traditional professional model. There won\u2019t be a Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but rather the sum of the work done, without set days or hours. One of these tasks is vocal coaching. \u201cAt first, I thought I had to study more before I could teach, but I discovered that I love teaching, and now I feel more confident.\u201d Her parents support her new career and are her loyal audience, attending every show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lebanese roots<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chamma doesn\u2019t come from a family of musicians, but one of her grandfathers used to sing in the church. Her grandfathers from both her maternal and paternal sides came from Lebanon\u2014one from the north, from the Akkar region, and the other from the south, from Hasbaya. Growing up with her grandfathers, who were merchants with their homes above their shops, one in the countryside of Paran\u00e1 and the other in the countryside of S\u00e3o Paulo, she absorbed Arab references from all aroundd her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, at the invitation of a maternal aunt who was attending a medical conference in Lebanon, Chamma traveled to her grandparents\u2019 homeland. There, she visited the house where each of them was born. \u201cMy grandfather\u2019s house in Hasbaya was very similar to the ones in Brazil\u2014not on the outside, because the one in Lebanon was made of stone and very old, but inside: the decoration, the way things were organized, the tray used to serve coffee. Details that I remember very well from my childhood,\u201d recalls the singer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was twelve days traveling across the country, and spending most of the time in the capital. \u201cIt\u2019s an experience being in the East, everything is very different, and at the same time, Beirut reminds me of S\u00e3o Paulo in many ways, there\u2019s a familiar chaos and also inequality,\u201d she says. \u201cBesides the food, which is impossible not to love\u2014it\u2019s always incredible. And very, very abundant, just like the gatherings in my family have always been.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go ahead:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instagram: Samira Chamma<\/a> \u2013 Coletivo Mulher<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Report by D\u00e9bora Rubin, in collaboration with ANBA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guilherme Assano<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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