Born in Lisbon, Mané spent part of her childhood in Mozambique, where she learned to play the piano. This blending of two cultures could but assist and portend the artistic development of her career. Back in Portugal, she completed her piano studies at the conservatory,A few years later Mané was helped along in her artistic career by the singers America Rosa, then Maria da Fé, who gave her the opportunity to sing in Porto, then in Lisbon, in the many cafés, cabarets and night clubs where Fado is performed. It was in one of these clubs that two of her new songs were recorded live. First appearing on a 33 album, these two songs are presently available on two CDs: Great Voices of Fado by DOM and Thalassa Portugal by Sony. Mané signed her first contracts in 1975.She went on tour in 1976, spending a year in Toronto and a year in Montréal. In 1982 she took part in a two-year tour of Germany with a Portuguese traditional music group. In 1986 she returned to Canada, before appearing for nine months in New York, where a television programme was also devoted entirely to her. Between two journeys, Mané returned to Portugal, where she appears regularly in concert. Almost ten years ago she moved to Paris, where she shares her passion and her art with lovers of Portuguese tradition at various venues. Accompanied by groups of between two and five musicians - two "Portuguese guitars" (long-necked lutes), a classical guitar, a double bass and an accordion - she shows that the popular art of Fado is still very much alive. With a vocal timbre that has been formed by the sorrows and passions of an intense and rich life, she sings these songs in a very personal way. Mané performs traditional Fado with authenticity, while giving the genre a new lease of life.