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Canadian-Italian soprano Aviva Fortunata, named twice as one of CBC’s Top 30 Canadian Classical Artists Under 30, is earning international attention with her “velvety timbre”, “gleaming tone”, and voice “of diva soprano quality and strength.” Future engagements will see her return to the Canadian Opera Company and her debuts at the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Berliner Philharmoniker, Sacramento Philharmonic & Orchestra, Opéra de Québec, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Fortunata recently stepped in twice as Elettra in Idomeneo for both Boston Baroque and Washington Concert Opera, where her "genuinely electric" "star turn" performances showcased her "power, emotion, ravishing coloratura" and "effortless high notes" which "brought down the house" in "the standout moment of the evening."
This fall, Ms. Fortunata will open her season as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at A Concert Celebration honouring twenty years of the Canadian Opera Company at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Ms. Fortunata will make a company debut at the Brooklyn Art Song Society performing Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder, followed by a return to Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore with the Sacramento Philharmonic & Orchestra. Ms. Fortunata will appear as Gerhilde in Die Walküre with the Osterfestspiele Salzburg and the Berliner Philharmoniker, before returning home to Canada to star as the title role in Opéra de Québec's production of Tosca.
Ms. Fortunata recently added to her arsenal of Verdian heroines this season in a return to Sarasota Opera as Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore, to accompany her past roles with the company: as Elvira in Ernani, Lina in Stiffelio, and the title role of Luisa Miller. Ms. Fortunata recently sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Calgary Opera, fresh off the heels of singing Donna Anna with Pacific Opera Victoria and covering Donna Anna with the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Fortunata first joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in 2022, covering Elettra in Idomeneo. In concert last season, Ms. Fortunata returned to sing Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with the Victoria Symphony, where she has appeared in summer concerts and a concert version of Lohengrin in previous years.
Ms. Fortunata maintains a presence in opera houses across Canada. In the 2023-2024 season, she sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Pacific Opera Victoria, where she has previously sung Leonore in Fidelio as well as in all three operas of Il trittico. Regarding her performance in title role of Suor Angelica, the Times Colonist wrote that her “heart-rending ‘Senza mamma’...was tremendous, sung with creamy lyricism and thrilling high notes.” Other roles include Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow (Calgary Opera), Clotilde in Norma, First Lady in The Magic Flute, Third Norn and Gutrune in Götterdämmerung (Canadian Opera Company), the title role in Tosca (Opera on the Avalon), and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Saskatoon Opera.)
Ms. Fortunata has received acclaim for her interpretation of the title role in Norma with Calgary Opera: “her vocal strength, brilliant top register, and excellent coloratura singing were heard to thrilling effect.” (Calgary Herald). She had made her debut in the role at the Dallas Opera a few years prior in a last-minute replacement, and has covered Sandra Radvanovsky’s Norma with Canadian Opera Company.
Notable tenures include the ensemble with the Deutsche Oper Berlin as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, First Lady in Das Märchen von der Zauberflöte, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Anna in Nabucco; with the Canadian Opera Company as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helmwige in Die Walküre, Annina in La traviata, and Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia; and the Merola Opera Program, as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello and Lady with a Cake Box in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco.
Concert credits include her l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec debut singing works by Beethoven, Strauss, and Bellini; recitals with the Canadian Opera Company including Messaien’s Poèmes pour Mi, Britten’s Ekho poeta, and the Canadian premiere of John Greer’s piano quintet arrangement of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, as well as the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Chorus Niagara and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Ms. Fortunata was a 2016 Finalist for Operalia, The World Opera Competition, and she was Canada's representative in the 2015 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where she was a Song Prize Finalist. She holds a Master of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto.