Linda Diniz Braganza has spent a lifetime in music and still has those magic fingers on the keyboard. She was with Ecstasy (two years), The Bees (a year), and Timoteo's Goan Cultural Folklore Troupe (13 years). She has performed as a solo pianist at the Hotel Mandovi for a total of nine years. She recalls: "I come from a musical family. My mother plays the mouth organ, my father was a music lover, my brother Constancio played the keyboard for the band Syndicate. My sister Bernadette Diniz plays the violin and my late sister Clara Diniz played the piano. I'm a bad stammerer, started stammering at the age of five. But I loved music and learnt to play the piano." "I could express my self very well in music since I could not speak fluently due to stammering. I started learning the piano at the age of 11 at the Academia de Musica [the old and prominent music school in Panjim] and completed Grade 8 from the Trinity College of Music London in 1983." Side by side, she won small school and college piano instrumental competitions then played for choirs. She felt like playing for bands. That's how she got started with Ecstasy. Its members were: Henry Pinheiro, rhythm guitar & vocals; Darryl Figueiredo, bass guitar; Schubert, lead guitar. After he left Jude Vaz joined. Joaquim da Costa was on the drums. Grace Gonsalves was vocals. And there was Linda Diniz on the keyboards. That was in 1983 when the Ecstasy was active. "I remember performing for the Red & Black dance in Panjim. I have great memories because we played till 8 a.m. in the morning. We also performed for the 31st December dance at the Cidade de Goa, at the Old is Gold event of the Club National and for many afternoon and evening weddings." Linda has "great memories because people enjoyed our music". They played the waltz, cha, cha, tango, bolero, swings and Goan songs besides many more. Looking back she adds: "People loved our band very much because of the choice of music."
Contact Linda on WhatsApp at +91 98819 19506 lindabraga...@yahoo.com Send your responses to goa...@goanet.org See and listen: https://youtu.be/3knDVv8yoyU https://youtu.be/tMrgeuyVflo -- FN* फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या * فريدريك نورونيا +91-9822122436 AUDIO: https://archive.org/details/goa1556 <https://archive.org/details/@fredericknoronha>
