For Mônica Freire, music is all about encounters and the blending of cultures. Having temporarily left Brazil to travel the world, she first settled in Montreal in the 90s, when she was still in her twenties.
It was in Tokyo, however, that Mônica recorded her first solo album, Monica, which went on to become a best-seller on the World Music charts, followed by Monica II.

A few years later, the musician launched Bahiatronica, which garnered four nominations at the JUNO Awards and the ADISQ Gala, followed by Na Laje, which also received a nomination at the latter.
A new chapter begins for Mônica Freire at the end of 2020, when she returns to Quebec after a ten-year absence.

On her new album Ilhada, produced by Jean Massicotte (Lhasa, Pierre Lapointe, Arthur H, Patrick Watson) and released in 2024, her Brazilian guitar rubs shoulders with Oriental, African and Brazilian percussion, as well as the kanun and oud, traditional Oriental string instruments, a marriage that bears witness to a constant search between tradition and modernity.

Ilhada is in nomination at ADISQ in the category Album of the year - World music.