Ana Moura dazzled the audience on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Isabel Pinto)

One of my tasks as part of this series was to write honestly about the Arts Dawg experience as a date night idea. We in the UWAA naturally felt it would make a great date – Appetizers! Wine! The arts! – but my first two dates admitted that they wouldn’t have thought to attend dance productions or symphony performances on their own.

Thankfully, Ella Mae, my date on Saturday, couldn’t have been more excited to see Ana Moura.

We talked briefly about the Portuguese fado singer over coffee while escaping the Seattle rain and waiting for the pre-show reception. Ella Mae, also an occasional singer, had brushed up on Moura’s work beforehand and found herself entranced by Moura’s voice. “Smooth” became the descriptor of the night.

We shifted topics after a few minutes and spent much of the hour-long coffee date talking about travel. We shared our travel philosophies– “get lost” and “get off the beaten path” – talked about places we’d been – like the Philippines, New York, and New Orleans – and destinations we’d like to visit – basically “everywhere on Earth.”

We couldn’t go to Portugal on this night, so Moura brought a taste of the country to Seattle.

Moura is a young star in the storied fado scene, which started nearly 200 years ago as a genre similar to American blues music; it sprung out of poor and disenfranchised communities, and most song topics touched on loss, yearning, and heartbreak.

Those themes were evident on Saturday, as Moura performed one tear-jerking tune after another. She sung all but two songs in Portuguese, leaning heavily on her latest release “Desfado,” for the set’s material. Maybe Ella Mae and I were actually better off for not understanding Moura’s devastating lyrics; how awkward is it, after all, to spend a blind date listening to songs of failed romance, sorrow, and sadness?

Whether performing a folk-inspired number or traditional fado tune, Moura enchanted throughout her two-hour set. The Portuguese might have been lost on Ella Mae and I, but Moura’s voice – which could soar just as easily as it could crawl from note to melancholy note – kept us engaged throughout the night. Some feelings and emotions transcend language.

Two hours and one encore later, no one in the crowd was ready to call it a night. Nearly everyone stood and clapped along when Moura ditched the sorrowful tunes for more upbeat, fast-paced numbers. As Moura and her band took a bow and waved to the crowd, Ella Mae turned to me and shouted over the applause. “I loved that,” she said. “So smooth.”

Ludovic Morlot guest conducted the UW Symphony on Feb. 28 at Meany Hall.

I’m a relative newcomer to Seattle, having moved here seven months ago from a suburban outpost of Portland, Oregon. My earlier memories of the city consisted of little more than Seattle Mariners games, the fish throwers at Pike Place Market, and beignets at Toulouse Petit, so the city still feels like the world’s largest playground as I explore its diverse neighborhoods.

Luckily, Stacey, a lifelong Seattle resident and my date for the most recent Arts Dawg event, was a good sport about my infatuation. Our date started over coffee at Café Solstice on the Ave. I spent much of the hour peppering her with questions and observations about Seattle – so much so, I later asked if I was boring her with my nonstop chatter about the low-key nature of Eastlake and the fun bars in Ballard. “Not at all,” she said. “It’s fun to hear a fresh perspective from an outsider.”

After an hour of Seattle observations and get-to-know you conversation, we walked to Meany Hall for the University Symphony’s recital.

Going into the performance, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Stacey and I agreed that we respect the arts but admitted that we wouldn’t think to attend a symphony performance. My exposure to classical music has been mostly limited to old Looney Tunes cartoons, and Stacey had enough of symphonies after spending much of her childhood as a flautist. “It wouldn’t be at the top of my list,” she said.

The University Symphony led off with Un Sourire by Olivier Messiaen. The piece alternated between soft, string-driven sections that sounded like they could soundtrack a sunset and skittish sections keyed by fast-paced xylophones. It was a shrewd decision to open the set with such a gripping number; it grabbed our attention and kept us on edge throughout the piece. I liked the uneasy feeling that I didn’t know where it was going, but Stacey was more measured in her enthusiasm. “That was so jarring,” she said almost as soon as the final note finished.

The first piece following intermission – and my personal highlight of the evening – was Maurice Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand Alone, starring soloist Ching-Yueh Chen. The soloist dazzled as he played the piano with – you guessed it – only his left hand. I couldn’t stop staring as I wondered how he made such beautiful, intoxicating music … one-handed, no less. Going into the performance, I don’t know what I expected, but seeing a soloist earn a scattered standing ovation with only his left hand certainly wasn’t on the list.

A lesser writer would say that we, ahem, changed our tune afterward or that the performance struck a chord. But the truth is that I was transfixed. It’s one thing to hear classical music in the background of a big-budget action movie or an NFL highlight reel. But it’s another experience entirely to see more than 70 musicians working together, telling stories with the notes, and creating something positively grand. Even Stacey couldn’t help but agree once the performance concluded. “This was a lot of fun,” she said as we walked out of Meany Hall and into the rainy Seattle night.

Ana Moura will bring her soulful brand of fado to the University of Washington on March 2, 2013. (Photo (c) Paulo Segadaes)

Valentine’s Day candy might be relegated to the clearance rack at Safeway, but feelings of love, loss, and yearning endure. Those themes will take center stage when Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura performs as part of the UW World Series’ World Music & Theatre Series early next month.

The concert is the latest in the Arts Dawg series, which introduces UWAA members to the University’s fine and performing arts offerings. Arts Dawg ticketholders receive discounted admission, a pre-show reception with free wine and appetizers, and a talk with Michelle Witt, executive director of Meany Hall and artistic director of the UW World Series.

Witt, during her discussion, will give an overview of Portuguese fado, a mournful style of music that began in the early 1800s. The genre was born when poor and disenfranchised communities in Portugal gathered to express their despair – not unlike the blues in America. “It’s an incredibly soulful form of vocal expression,” Witt said.

Two hundred years later, Ana Moura is one of the biggest, most compelling names in the genre. Since releasing her debut album in 2004, Moura has gained acclaim for blending the deep-rooted fado traditions with modern influences such as Nina Simone and Billie Holiday.

In addition to performing around the world, Moura has shared stages with the Rolling Stones and Prince. That pop music influence, along with a broad vocal range, makes Moura a compelling figure in the international music scene, Witt said. “She bridges a very traditional, important art form, but is very connected to the contemporary popular music world.”

Moura’s tales of longing, pain, and regret will still resonate with audiences who don’t speak Portuguese, Witt said. “It’s an incredibly powerful experience.”

If You Go

What: Ana Moura, in concert. UWAA members can sign up as part of the Arts Dawg promotion, which includes a pre-show reception with free wine and appetizers, as well as a talk with UW World Series Artistic Director Michelle Witt.

Where: Meany Hall for the Performing Arts, UW Seattle campus.

When: 8 p.m. March 2; the pre-show reception will start at 7 p.m. in the Meany Hall theater lobby.

Cost: $34-$38; $33 for UWAA members; $32-$36 for UW faculty, staff, and alumni; $20 for students.

Information: Arts Dawg at ArtsUW.