Salvador BA)
There is another Brazilian who stands out in the musical reality abroad: Bahian Sandro Machado, 36. Accustomed to opera choices, he recently passed the audition for the program Vocea României Romania’s “The Voice” beating all the judges turned their chairs around for him.
Born in Camaçari, a community in the Salvador metropolitan area, Sandro began singing in the Adventist church at the age of 4 and intensified his practice throughout his youth. At the beginning of his adult life he took his first opera singing lessons.
He began studying administration, but completed his singing studies at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in 2011. Four years later, he was one of five in a selection of 120 singers to be admitted to a master’s degree program in Germany. After completing his studies, he moved to Romania in 2018, where he began combining work in an accounting office with musical performances.
In this interview with Q5Sandro talks about his musical training, his experiences with opera singing and his participation in musical reality shows. Vocea României (available on YouTube and on the website protv.ro) is his third experience in a program of this genre.
In 2012, while still in Brazil, he took part in the program Estilos, a competition between tenors singing songs from the pop lyric repertoire, on Record. In 2021, he also appeared on “Romania’s Got Talent”, the Romanian version of the competition between talents from different fields.
How did your musical training go?
I grew up listening to gospel music, which introduced me to black American singing. But because I was limited by the church, I didn’t know anything about MPB or pop. For example, I didn’t know who Madonna was until I was 18. My father played at carnivals, but stopped after he became an Adventist. Unfortunately, I didn’t absorb this popular side of him during his lifetime. What he really wanted was for me to finish my business studies. “Do something safe, then music,” he said. But I changed my course and studied opera singing. At first I split myself between band shows and operas. During my master’s degree, I learned how to prepare my voice to sing all day long. If you do vocal training every day with the right breaks, your body will be prepared.
Do you see any similarities between opera performances and musical reality shows?
In addition to technical ability, appearance also counts, for better or worse. During the opera selections, despite my outstanding voice and my height than my competitors (he is 1.86 m), there were problems with fatphobia and racism, which I have experienced a few times, including in Brazil. In reality, it’s about show business. The experience of the Estilos show helped me understand how the dynamics work on television. Even though I wasn’t selected, on Romania’s Got Talent it was valuable to know how to put together the presentation, which I put into practice on The Voice.
Did you stop acting when you sang opera?
Yes, for several reasons. Despite the positive outcome, the master’s program was characterized by terrible pressure. Several friends and I had panic attacks and were emotionally abused. When I finished the course there was also an identity crisis. As a black man, I missed working on something related to my story. I wanted to dance, compose my songs, talk about my feelings. After completing my master’s degree, I moved to Romania and stopped making music for a year. When I started singing again, in addition to composing, I also pursued a more R&B and pop route at events with my band Funk 28.
What are your plans for your music career?
At the moment I’m still trying to balance being on The Voice with working at an accounting firm. Interestingly, basic knowledge of administration helps… I am very lucky because my superiors understand and support my moment. I practiced the local language and invested in my career in Romania. The fact that all the judges turned their chairs and praised my performance (“Surprises like you keep our show going,” said judge Tudor Chirilă) and all the comments I read afterwards make me believe that things are moving forward here. I just have to thank you.