Outstanding Azorean Singer-Songwriter Sara Cruz at the San Joaquin Valley Portuguese Festival, put forth by the Carlos Vieira Foundation.

Sara Cruz was born in 1995 on the island of São Miguel in the Azores — an archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America. At age 23, Sara has been writing and singing regularly since 17. The first time she sang onstage, she was only 14 years old. From then on, she knew — and we all knew — that this is what she was born to do.

Sara Cruz has regularly performed around the nine islands that compose the Archipelago of the Azores. She has also performed in mainland Portugal, Lisbon, and Oporto, as well as in the UK and London. With many diverse collaborations in the national and regional music panorama, Sara regularly collaborates with fellow singer/songwriters King John (São Miguel) and Cristóvam (Terceira)—both consistently rising stars in Portuguese music.

Sara Cruz is accustomed to playing in bars and small gigs. Still, her original voice and the intensity of her musical writing soon led up to bigger stages when, in 2015, she performed solo as the opening act for Xutos & Pontapés, one of the biggest rock bands in Portugal, during the “Lagoa Comvida” Festival, in Lagoa city.

That same year, invited by the “Festa do Chicharro” Festival, in the village of Povoação, Sara Cruz was also the opening act for another one of the biggest Portuguese bands: Resistência. In an interview for music site Meia de Rock, Sara admitted to be nervous about having such a responsibility on her hands. Nevertheless, she knew those were two significant opportunities to show her music to more people.

Other renowned artists have also shared the stage with Sara Cruz. One was Brazilian singer/songwriter Maria Gadú, performing in the internationally famous “Maré de Agosto” Festival on the island of Santa Maria when she asked Sara to go up on stage and sing a song with her.