Settled by Europeans in 1652, New Bedford first rose to prominence due to whaling-an industry that lit the world’s oil lamps and by 1857 had made it “ the wealthiest city per capita in North America.” It is also the port from which Ishmael first takes sail in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Workers’ face shields hang along a wall after they finished their shifts scaling, filleting, and trimming fish at the Blue Harvest seafood processing plant in New Bedford. But in many ways, New Bedford is a rare coronavirus success story among the nation’s food processing hubs. The response wasn’t perfect, and low-wage workers on the frontlines initially bore the brunt before precautions were adopted. In the face of a pandemic, this small New England city retraced its history dealing with past outbreaks of communicable diseases, and officials and community members expediently prioritized the science around the novel coronavirus. Strikingly, that fate did not come to pass. The fear was that New Bedford might suffer the same superspreading events that ravaged cities linked to meat processing in the Midwest. (The per capita income in New Bedford is $25,829.)

The rest of the crew would immediately abort the fishing trip and bring the vessel back to shore at a shared deficit of about $15,000. If someone on board developed symptoms, they would be banished to a cot in the forepeak, a grim, airless crawlspace at the very tip of the boat normally used for storage. When I visited New Bedford in October 2020, he showed me a contingency plan he and several other fishermen pulled together in the spring-in lieu of any official regulatory guidance at the time-after word spread of COVID-19 outbreaks on two other local fishing vessels. During an 8-week Festival of Performing Arts tour, Candida travelled to Hawaii, Washington (DC)/NYC (National Museum of the American Indian), Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, various parts of Massachusetts, and Alaska, representing New Bedford and its Cape Verdean community.On top of the financial woes, the tight quarters aboard the William Lee worried owner Chad Maguire. She has performed for several Inaugurations for the Mayor of New Bedford, and has performed for several events of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.įrom 2007 – 2009, she represented New Bedford’s ECHO Project (a collaborative between The New Bedford Whaling Museum and New Bedford Oceanarium) which was federally funded program through the Dept. She currently serves as a judge for New Bedford’s talent contest, New Bedford Idol. She has also received several honors from the New Bedford City Council.

Her work as a vocalist for various civic and cultural events and with local youth-oriented programs has earned her awards from the New Bedford Branch NAACP (Artistic Service Excellence Award), the Rhode Island Educational Enrichment Program, and the Martha Briggs Educational Club of New Bedford (Woman of Vision Award).

More recently, her experiences are derived from her focused work as a music/choir director, arranger, and composer with her church choir, the Union Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir, where she now serves as Minister of Music. Prior to formal education and training, Candida Rose developed her impressive vocal interpretations and her broad repertoire over 20 years of experience singing with local and nationally known jazz, R & B, and funk bands and individual artists. Aside from her work with youth, Candida currently travels the SouthCoast region of Massachusetts and various areas of Rhode Island singing for Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Care facilities, and senior centers and group. In addition to being a committed vocal artist, performing nationally and internationally, Candida has been and continues to be a dedicated teacher and mentor to many of New Bedford’s aspiring young vocalists, formerly instructing choirs at New Bedford’s Nativity Preparatory School and the New Bedford YMCA. Candida Rose’s 10-song debut CD entitled “KabuMerikana: The Sum of Me”, combines her Cape Verdean musical roots with her American influences to bring a fresh new take on world/jazz music which she calls “KabuJazz”.Ĭandida Rose is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth where she graduated “Summa Cum Laude” with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Music (African-American/World music) and a minor in African and African/American Studies.

Born and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts, vocal artist “Candida Rose” captivates her audiences with the golden aura of her radiant presence and stirs them with a uniquely compelling voice that combines the overtones and undertones of jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel with just the right touch of international spice.

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