From a young age, she grew accustomed both to fighting for a certain level of perfection in all her endeavours, and to constantly being in the public eye. She entered into the  Dance School   Nacional conservatory  of Lisbon  at age 8 with the hope of becoming a Ballerina, and completed 4 years in the course, during which she ranked first place in a Jazz Dance competition organised by the Santo Amaro Academy.  But her apt for music combined with her musical upbringing lead her to uncover her true vocation; Singing.

At the age of 17 she enrolled in the singing course at the Nacional Conservatory of Lisbon, during which she studied under Manuela de Sá. At the same time, she began to work as a singer and actress in the theatre, collaborating from the start with various well known names.

From then on, Yolanda began to mould her life into an Artistic university (as she likes to call it) and sought the most diverse Artistic experiences to enrich her in her own self discovery and that of her Art.  While studying at the Conservatory, she also participated as a singer and an actress in Francisco Nikolson's Play "A grande Festa", in Filipe La Féria's "Bloody Cocain", and (as an actress) in Walter Avancini's television series "Giras e Pirosas", alongside many well known Brazilian actors, including Lima Duarte. Yolanda performed in the Conservatory Choir in a number of productions including: Bizet's Carmen and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. She sang the backing vocals for Aldelaide Ferreira, took part in various television competitions, and sang on many programs such as: Carlos Cruz's Zona +, Júlio Isidro's Mil e uma tardes, Rock rendez vous, Selecção de esperanças.

She then went on to spend four years performing with an events group on cruise ships. She sang a variety of different genres of music, including Cuban music, Musicals and lírico (sung in duet with the wellknown  Tenor Carlos Guilherme).

Through these experiences she mastered many musical genres. However, after this "odyssey", Yolanda Soares decided to return to her studies, enrolling in a Law course at the Universidade Moderna in Lisbon. She ultimately dropped the course, deciding to focus on the area she was most passionate about: Music.

Yolanda entered into the Casino Estoril where she spent a further 4 years singing with a Jazz Trio, affording her yet another unique experience, to be followed by six months performing in the Casino da Póvoa do Varzim. Returning to her original roots, and after a number of lessons with Elizete Baian, she began to sing ‘lírico’ again, working with several singers from the São Carlos National Theatre and the Gulbenkien. It was here that she met and formed the group known today as "Ópera Viva" and released their CD "Noites de ópera e Lisboa" (Ópera nights  in Lisbon).

Yolanda studied singing and repertoire, taking various Master Classes with prestigious National and International teachers, including:

Liliane Bisineck, Elisete Baian, Helena Netwig Dumitresku, Enza Ferrari, Lella Cuberli, Lúcia Lemos, Armando Vidal (musical director for her production "Noites de Ópera em Lisboa"), and Brian Macchugh (study of voice through methods of psychology).

Since then she has organised, produced and performed all the company's productions while at the same time doing shows around Portugal not only within the area of classical music but also in a variety of musical genres, ranging from Opera through to Fado. Yolanda creates and Artistically directs her own productions which include Noites de Ópera em Lisboa, Fado com Flamenco e Napolitanas, Ópera Viva, Bel Canto Latino, Canto Lusitano (or Casa Clássica Portuguesa), among others.

In 2005 she created "MusicBox" Fado in Concert, for the presentation of a solidarity event held in Aula Magna, and in 2006 she released the ‘MusicBox - Fado em Concerto’ album, released by Universal Portugal.

As a result of this project, Yolanda Soares was nominated for the SIC "Globos de Ouro" (Golden Globes) in the category of revelation artist.  She has been in prestigious and meaningful events, such as ‘Comemoração do Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades’ which took place on the 10th of June, 2007, and the World Triathlon Championships taking place for the first time in Portugal, held in the ‘Casino de Lisboa’. Her hymn ‘Amanhecer’ was chosen to represent the Triathlon Championships. She was invited by President Cavaco Silva, to perform before diplomats from around the world. Yolanda was invited by TV Galiza to perform in the Galiza Communications award ceremony. She has performed for the Cascais Municipality in the presence of political officials. She has performed at numerous galas and television programs.