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
art

This Weekend: Metalsmith Tara Conley Welds and Weaves Eye-Catching New Pieces for 'Lost and Found' Show

A detail of one of Conley's new metal sculptures

IT’S BEEN A while (2017 to be exact) since we featured Houston metal sculptor Tara Conley in our inaugural A Day in the Life of the Arts photo essay. That image of Conley in her Montrose studio, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeve flannel shirt, and a welders mask, holding a blow torch and staring down the camera while crouched behind one of her elegant steel sculptures, certainly conveyed the “work” that goes into being a “working artist.”

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment
parties

Roger Creager Headlines Boot-Scootin' Cattle Baron's Ball — Hats Off to $1.6M for Cancer Research!

Daniel Ortiz, Wilson Parrish and Jacob Power

ANNUALLY ONE OF the city's largest and most successful fundraising fetes, this year's Cattle Baron's Ball surpassed expectations, raising $1.6 million for the American Cancer Society.

Keep Reading Show less
Parties