Simon Arruda is a Fado Guitarist working in the Greater Toronto Area. It is the home of Fado artists like Tony Gouveia, Paulo Filipe, Hernani Raposo, and Pedro Joel, and Soraia Mejdoubi.
He recently released a cover of Ana Moura's Vinte Vinte, with Jennifer Bettencourt on vocals which aired on CHIN FM, and has a single, Milho Verde on iTunes and Spotify.
Though originally specializing in Jazz guitar, his focus has shifted to performing fado guitar (Guitarra Portuguesa), an instrument used in fado music. Fado is the national music of Portugual and is made famous by Amalia Rodrigues and Carlos Paredes, Antonio Chainho, etc.
Simon was really great and professional. The music was excellent and set a great tone for the birthday party.
Response from Fado (Portuguese) Guitar:
Thank you for the kind words Tatiana. It was a great group of people to perform for. Thank you for letting me a part of it.
Beautifully played Portuguese fado with a twist of some top Beatles songs for my son, the guest of honour. Thank you Simon for adding a classy touch to our event!
Response from Fado (Portuguese) Guitar:
I'm glad your family enjoyed the music during dinner. It was a lovely event, and I appreciate the warm welcome I received. The sunshine made it even better.
Thank you for letting me be a part of it.
My family & I are extremely happy to have had Simon & Andy come to perform for my father’s 90th birthday celebration. There are incredibly talented in their craft & we thank them for adding to our memorable evening. Highly recommend Simon & Andy, & look forward to having them perform at our next event!
Simon did such a wonderful job performing for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. His music complemented the event very well. Many of the guests enjoyed listening to the songs. In fact, one guest approached my parents sharing a fond memory that Simon's music reminded him of. Thank you Simon for sharing your talent and I highly recommend hiring Simon for any event.
Response from Fado (Portuguese) Guitar:
This is wonderful! Thank you Fernanda! You were wonderful to work with and it was a pleasure to perform for your family!
Photos from this event
Skillful and talented artist!! Extremely accommodating! Book Simon today, it will make your event that much more memorable.
Response from Fado (Portuguese) Guitar:
Thank you so much for the wonderful review Vanessa! I hope your father enjoyed it all! It was a pleasure chatting with him and reminiscing about our days with the bandas.
We didn't tell our guests that there would be a guitarist playing fado during dinner, and they were absolutely enchanted. Of course we expected some of the older Portuguese relatives to be delighted, but even the non-Portuguese folks were engrossed by Simon's beautiful playing. When we realized dinner was running late and we needed more time from him, he agreed right away and kept playing. He even played some of my favourite songs and mixed in a few non-fado songs that still fit the mood.
Response from Fado (Portuguese) Guitar:
Thank you for the kind words Brooke! The venue was beautiful and the food was great! It was an honour to be there! Thank you for allowing me to be part of it!
Dealing with Simon from first contact was easy and pleasant throughout the coordination and preparation period, even though he accepted the task with short notice, he came through with solutions and easily adapted to the list of songs he was provided!
In the end a great performance culminating with a lot of great comments from the guests!
Price Range: Contact for rates
Simon Arruda is a solo artist working in the Greater Toronto Area.
He studied music at York University and has performed in a variety of events as part of ensembles and as a solo musician.
His influences include Carlos Paredes, António Chainho, Amalia Rodrigues, Mariza.
Simon is happy to announce that his album 'Dreamscape' is digitally released on all major streaming services. It is also available for digital download from all major online retailers.
He plans to release another solo album of Portuguese Guitar music in early 2022.
Toronto, ON 
Guitarist
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83 Verified Bookings Kimmberly C. said “Amazing”
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77 Verified Bookings Jane H. said “Mark was great and very nice.”
Richmond Hill, ON
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13 Verified Bookings Kaitlyn H. said “Toby has amazing talent and works very well with the audience. I hired Toby to perform for a corporate event, primarily as background music for a cocktail…”
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