Visit Jean-Philippe's site about Portuguese music!

Hello friends and Zazzlers!

A couple of weeks ago a young student contacted me and showed his project, a website he created to promote Portuguese music. Be an ambassador of your musical heritage by promoting your homeland music, Jean-Philippe wrote in his site. His full name is Jean-Philippe Costa and he lives in Washington. His parents are Portuguese but he was born in France. Nevertheless, he chose Portuguese music, not French music for his assignment. How cool!

GWSB (George Washington University School of Business) students have developed websites for their digital marketing course. Google Analytics is being used to track the success of the students’ websites. At the end of the current spring semester, the student who gets the most unique visitors to the site will win a gift certificate to Founding Farmers – restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Please do me a little favor. Take a moment of your time and visit Jean-Philippe's site. It's called Your music your culture and it will introduce you to Portuguese music on the fly. He collected a significant sample of video links. You can also learn about Portuguese music evolution. Jean-Philippe covered the origin of fado, the state of music before the outburst of the revolutionary April 1974 (the "Carnation Revolution") and what genres flourished around the country after that event.

If you're Portuguese and know our music well, you can give Jean-Philippe an extra helping hand! Go to his site and fill in the form available with your contribution.

Do you think the content of the site is not enough? You are right!
We need your contribution

Fill in the required information, and leave as many suggestions as you like in the "comment" field. Your suggestions will thereafter be published on the website according to their content.

For your suggestions to be published in History and heritage

- Provide accurate facts (with dates, and historical context)
- Any other idea that you deem relevant

For your suggestions to be published in Portuguese Artist:

- Provide the name of the Band/artist
- Provide the musical genre it belongs to
- Optional the name of your favorite songs/album

I was curious about Jean-Philippe I asked Jean about himself, his life, and his projects for the future. He was kind enough to answer!

1. Tell us your name, your age, and where you live...
My name is Jean-Philippe Costa Mota or Jean-Philippe Antunes Mota... it depends if I use my Portuguese or French passport. This being said I am Portuguese “de alma e coração”. I am currently about to turn 25 next month, I was born and raised in France, my parents are Portuguese and Portuguese was actually the 1st language I learned.
As I usually like to say: My education as an individual is Portuguese since I have been raised by a Portuguese family, and my education as a citizen is French since I have been also “raised” by French institutions. I am finishing my Master of Science in Business in Washington, DC, and will move to Brazil to start my career.

2. Why did you go to the USA?
I decided to come to the US to conclude my master's program for a semester.

3. Do you enjoy living there?
I enjoy life in Washington DC. When I first arrived I was afraid to miss the strong European culture, its history, literacy, and of course its gastronomy. Hopefully, I discovered here a wonderful country, very diversified. DC is a fun city to live in at my age. But I must confess I miss the food back home lol.

4. What do Americans think about Portuguese people?
Americans have very little knowledge about Portuguese culture. It’s not a myth that Americans are very self-centered and they might not pay a lot of attention to other cultures. Plus the US is a big country, I believe they know more about Portuguese in areas like New Jersey. All in all, the Portuguese have a reputation to be hard and serious workers, and no one can’t take that away from us!

5. Why did you pick Portuguese music as a theme for this school project?
I choose to do this project about Portuguese music because I know myself; I know that to go the extra mile and do a great job, I have to be passionate about what I am doing. I am passionate about our music. Besides, it gives me a sense of justice, I feel like our artists should be recognized on an international level. I had the same feeling last year when I was in Brazil, and it was even more frustrating. I am proud to be an ambassador of our music thanks to this website.

6. What Portuguese music is available in the USA?
The cruel truth is ... none.

7. Besides music, what are your main interests?
I like listening to music, music makes me alive, lately, I have been teaching myself guitar and harmonica and it feels awesome. Aside from that, I love martial arts which I have been practicing for 9 years and of course, I love going out and enjoying what life can offer to a young person eager to discover the world. Traveling is certainly my biggest passion.

8. In what country do you imagine living in the future?
I am only in the US for a short period of time. My parents are currently in France, so I would guess my home is there. Nevertheless one day I do intend to go live for a couple of years in Portugal. At the end of the day, I believe it is where I belong and it’s just a matter of time before I undertake to spend time in Portugal.