Chanda Rule - Sapphire Dreams (2019)

She was on the subway, traveling to her job at a public relations office, when she heard a voice inside of her head say: “You have to sing!” Chanda Rule began singing when she was a toddler and greatly enjoyed being part of choirs and singing in the church as an adolescent, however, her parents had something more solid in mind for her when it came to a professional career. But there was a voice inside of her, and it became louder and louder. Chanda quit her job and sat down under a tree in the park to ponder her next steps in life. Right in front of her, a theater group was rehearsing a play by Shakespeare. They started talking and soon Chanda began taking theater classes.

“In New York, you can find musical theaters on every corner, and this is how I got back into singing, and suddenly I was touring with them through the US and Europe. From that time on I worked as a musical singer.”

In addition, Chanda studied theology, worked as a teacher and cultivated her love of old music. Deeply rooted in her faith, the singer lives by her conviction that music can heal like medicine and can bring people from different worlds together.

Chanda Rule was born in Chicago, but it was in New York where she met the love of her life. An Austrian! Together, they moved to Vienna, where she successfully embarked on a whole new musical career. She has performed various concerts all over Europe, and this year in Austria, she performed at the Inntöne Festival, right before the saxophonist Kamasi Washington. In December, she will be on tour with a Christmas Gospel project.

On her new CD Sapphire Dreams (PAO-Records), Chanda reveals the whole range of her amazing abilities. A more beautiful, and mature voice could not be found anywhere at the moment. In October, she will be performing at venues between London and Vienna and next year she will be at the WDR jazz fest.

On tour, she is often joined by her four-year-old son, who is a drummer like his dad. Chanda, age 43, knows that in her business many women lie about their age in order to be successful. She finds this rather ridiculous: “There´s this obsession in the western world about eternal youth. As if age 29 were our expiration date. I think women are supposed to believe that you can no longer live your dreams in your forties, let alone as a mother. I refuse to accept the pressure that we must not age. We have to acknowledge how wonderful women can be at every age.”