Vivalda Dula

Born and raised in Angola, singer VIVALDA DULA, along with her classical guitarist husband Marcelo Robert, relocated from Luanda to Houston in 2012. In Houston, Dula recorded two albums of her percussion-heavy, Africa-inspired music, 2013’s Insanidade Mental and 2015’s Africa. A dynamic live act, with a griot’s gift for storytelling, Dula often sings her socially conscious lyrics in Kimbundu, a language banned from her country’s schools before the Angolan Civil War. Fittingly, Dula — who boasts an effervescent personality and impossibly glowing skin — just performed at the Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land. The new mom to an eight-month-old girl is currently recording an album with Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miller.
Born and raised in Angola, singer VIVALDA DULA, along with her classical guitarist husband Marcelo Robert, relocated from Luanda to Houston in 2012. In Houston, Dula recorded two albums of her percussion-heavy, Africa-inspired music, 2013’s Insanidade Mental and 2015’s Africa. A dynamic live act, with a griot’s gift for storytelling, Dula often sings her socially conscious lyrics in Kimbundu, a language banned from her country’s schools before the Angolan Civil War. Fittingly, Dula — who boasts an effervescent personality and impossibly glowing skin — just performed at the Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land. The new mom to an eight-month-old girl is currently recording an album with Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miller.

Born and raised in Angola, singer Vivalda Dula, along with her classical guitarist husband Marcelo Robert, relocated from Luanda to Houston in 2012. In Houston, Dula recorded two albums of her percussion-heavy, Africa-inspired music, 2013’s Insanidade Mental and 2015’s Africa. A dynamic live act, with a griot’s gift for storytelling, Dula often sings her socially conscious lyrics in Kimbundu, a language banned from her country’s schools before the Angolan Civil War. Fittingly, Dula — who boasts an effervescent personality and impossibly glowing skin — just performed at the Global Issues Summit in Sugar Land. The new mom to an eight-month-old girl is currently recording an album with Grammy-winning producer Emilio D. Miller.

Angola native Dula prefers patterns and jewelry that reflect her heritage. She wears statement pendant necklaces, $200 each, and chain choker, $75, all by Jessie Dugan Designs, jessiedugan.com; sterling cuff with white and black diamonds, $3,200, at Deutsch & Deutsch; Arabesque dome statement ring, $7,300, by Pomellato at Zadok Jewelers.

Click here to see our full portfolio of Houston's diverse music scene 

Special
medicine

THI’s New Artificial Heart Saves Patient’s Life, Furthers Med Center’s Heart-Surgery Lore

A next-gen artificial heart from BiVACOR has successfully been implanted in a patient at Texas Heart Institute. The patient survived more than a week, until a donor heart was found for a transplant.

THE PIONEERING CARDIOVASCULAR inventors and surgeons at The Texas Heart Institute (THI) in the Texas Medical Center have made another huge leap forward in the treatment of heart disease, officially announcing yesterday what they’re calling a “monumental advancement."

Keep Reading Show less
People + Places
art

‘Birds, Bugs and Flowers in the Oven!’ Foltz Presents Playful Work by Gardner, Other Texas Artists

Rachel Gardner with her flower necklaces and, at left, Calla Lilly necklace

ON SATURDAY JULY 27, Foltz Gallery presents Endless Summer, a lively, playful exhibit of works by a multi-generational group of 28 emerging and established Texas-based artists. Taking its name from the 1974 Beach Boys double-album, which compiled the group’s early 1960s hit singles, the show is a visual “mixtape” of colorful paintings, prints, photographs, wall-based installations, ceramics and sculptures, installed lovingly throughout Foltz’s spacious and sunlit galleries. Among the works in Endless Summer are several examples of handmade “sculptural jewelry” by artist Rachel Gardner — a series of wearable wildflowers and fruits, including olives and strawberries.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment