In the Remote Azores, Endemic Sounds Are Bridging the Islands’ Past and Future

Photo credit: Vera Marmelo. Retrieved from cntraveler.com

Rising up from the Atlantic Ocean some 900 miles off the coast of Portugal, the Azores is one of the most isolated places in Europe. Shaped by volcanoes, battered by storms, and conditioned by vast distances, the archipelago contains the westernmost point in the European Union and also some of its poorest communities.

Farming and fishing are the islands’ economic drivers, and the urge to leave is so deeply instilled that the diaspora—spread across the United States, Canada, Brazil, and beyond—is estimated to be six times larger than the population of the islands, a mere 244,000 people (and steadily shrinking). But sometimes isolation is the best crucible for creativity.

Today a homegrown music scene is simultaneously exploring new worlds and rescuing ancient traditions, proving in the process that, for all the hardship that Azoreans have suffered, there’s a lot to be proud of.