Aviva Fortunata
Artist Management
Canadian-Italian soprano Aviva Fortunata is earning international attention for her “vocal strength, brilliant top register, and excellent coloratura” (Calgary Herald). In the 2025/26 season, Fortunata makes role debuts as Leonora in Il trovatore with Sarasota Opera and Turandot at Montréal’s Place des Arts. Future engagements include company debuts at the Salzburg Easter Festival, Berlin Philharmonic, and Opéra de Québec.
Last season, Ms. Fortunata added to her arsenal of Verdian heroines in a return to Sarasota Opera as Lina in Verdi’s Stiffelio, to accompany her past roles with the company: Elvira in Ernani and the title role of Luisa Miller. Ms. Fortunata also 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.
On the concert stage, Ms. Fortunata recently joined the Grand Philharmonic Choir as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and sang Strauss’ magnificent Vier letzte Lieder with the Victoria Symphony, where she’s appeared in summer concerts and excerpts from Lohengrin in previous seasons. Further concert appearances include her l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec debut singing works by Beethoven, Strauss, and Bellini; recitals with the Canadian Opera Company featuring Messiaen'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 concerts with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Chorus Niagara, and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Ms. Fortunata maintains a strong presence in opera houses across North America. In 2023/24, she sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Pacific Opera Victoria, where she has previously sung Leonore in Fidelio as well as roles in all three operas of Il trittico. Regarding her performance in the 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 credits include Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow (Calgary Opera), First Lady inThe 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 particular attention for her interpretation of the title role in Norma. In 2017, she made her debut in the role at the Dallas Opera.
Aviva’s early professional development included tenures with Deutsche Oper Berlin (First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Das Märchen von der Zauberflöte, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Anna in Nabucco), the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio (Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helmwige in Die Walküre, Annina in La traviata, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia), and the Merola Opera Program (Desdemona in Otello, Lady with a Cake Box in Postcard from Morocco).
Ms. Fortunata was a 2016 Finalist for Operalia, and Canada's representative in the 2015 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition where she was named a Song Prize Finalist. She holds a Master of Music in Opera from the University of Toronto.
"A dramatic soprano with a voice that was as strong and clear in the upper range as it was deep and emotive in the low range, Fortunata clearly has the capacity for big roles. Able to rise above full orchestra and chorus, as she did many times here, Fortunata also melted hearts in her soft aria pleading for forgiveness at her mother’s grave in Act II. As an actor she convincingly navigated heavy demands of her role, transforming from adulteress intent on hiding her affair to a humble supplicant. One has to admire her power and stamina."
Sarasota Observer
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