D’Anna Fortunato, Mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato has brought versatility to both her singing and teaching careers. In her lengthy singing career, she has won many awards, including those from the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, the Naumburg Prize in Chamber Music, the C.D. Jackson prize at Tanglewood and most recently, three Alumni Achievement Awards from the New England Conservatory of Music, Bucknell University, and Ashley Hall School, as well as the Jacobo Peri Award for Achievement in the Vocal Field. Professionally, she has played leading roles for such companies as the New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Kentucky Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, Rochester Opera, and Opera San José. As a concert and oratorio soloist, Fortunato has appeared internationally as a long-time member of the Bach Aria Group, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra, New York’s Musica Sacra, the Boston Camerata, Rome’s Bach Festival Orchestra, the Telemann Chamber Orchestra of Japan, and Berlin’s Spectrum Concerts, amongst many others. Her festival appearances are numerous, as are her singing engagements with major symphony orchestras, including the top ten American orchestras. She has 40 CDs to her credit, including eight premiere Handel opera CDs (amongst them, the Grammy-nominated Imeneo) and award-winning recordings of the songs of Amy Beach and Charles-Martin Loeffler. First performances have included works of John Harbison, Roger Sessions, Stephen Albert, Elliot Carter, Milton Babbitt, Daniel Pinkham, Andrew List, Marilyn Ziffrin, and John Heiss, amongst others.

Fortunato has conducted masterclasses and clinics throughout the U.S., especially as an expert in American 20th century music, baroque performance practice, and women composers. Summers have included teaching assignments, most recently at Songfest (15 seasons), the Bach Aria Seminars at Stony Brook, NY (12 seasons), and seminars at the Carmel Bach Festival and the Mannes School of Music in New York. Her students presently are performing in prestigious Young Artist Programs, as well as on the concert and opera stages in the U.S. and abroad.