D'Anna Fortunato is a noted American mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

. Among her teachers were Phyllis Curtin

Phyllis Curtin

Phyllis Curtin is an American classical soprano who had an active career in operas and concerts from the early 1950s through the 1980s. She was known for her creation of new roles such as the title role in the Carlisle Floyd opera Susannah, Catherine Earnshaw in Floyd's Wuthering Heights, and in...

 and Gladys Childs Miller

Gladys Childs Miller

Gladys Childs Miller was a highly influential voice teacher at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston for over fifty years....

. Fortunato is professor of voice at the New England Conservatory of Music

New England Conservatory of Music

The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...

, and her career has included appearances with the New York City Opera

New York City Opera

The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...

 (Alcina, directed by Andrei Şerban

Andrei Serban

Andrei Șerban is a Romanian-born American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings...

), and many other American companies. She has also sung with most of the major orchestras, as well as several prominent festivals.

She has championed the works of many living composers including John Harbison

John Harbison

John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...

, Gunther Schuller

Gunther Schuller

Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...

, Jake Heggie

Jake Heggie

Jake Heggie is an American composer and pianist.Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Dead Man Walking , The End of the Affair , At The Statue of Venus , To Hell and Back , and Moby-Dick , as well as the stage work For a Look or a Touch...

 and Mohammed Fairouz

Mohammed Fairouz

Mohammed Fairouz is an Arab American composer.Having fulfilling many commissions and created a substantial body of frequently performed works, he is considered one of the most sought after composers of the young generation. Fairouz began composing at an early age and studied at the New England...

.

The mezzo-soprano's large discography includes recordings of Handel's Imeneo, Siroe, Muzio Scevola, Faramondo and Alexander Balus; Haydn's La canterina; and the original version of Cherubini's Médée (as Néris).

External links

• D'Anna Fortunato in an excerpt from Deidamia, with Julianne Baird
  Julianne Baird
  Julianne Baird is an American soprano best known for her singing in Baroque works, in both opera and sacred music. She has nearly 100 recordings to her credit and is a well-traveled recitalist and soloist with major symphony orchestras...
  
  (audio only).