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 two major role debuts as Leonora in Il trovatore with Sarasota Opera and Elettra in Idomeneo with Boston Baroque. Upcoming engagements include debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic, Salzburg Easter Festival, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and Opéra de Québec, alongside a return to the Canadian Opera Company.
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. She 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.
On the concert stage, she recently performed Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Victoria Symphony, where she has also appeared in summer concerts and excerpts from Lohengrin in previous seasons. She was also heard as soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Grand Philharmonic Choir. Additional highlights include her debut with l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec in 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 Vier letzte Lieder; as well as appearances with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Chorus Niagara, and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
In the 2023/24 season, Fortunata sang Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Pacific Opera Victoria, where she has previously appeared as Leonore in Fidelio and in roles across all three operas of Il trittico. Her performance in the title role of Suor Angelica drew critical acclaim; 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), 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). She has also received particular attention for her interpretation of the title role in Norma, making her debut in the role at the Dallas Opera in 2017.
Her 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).
A finalist at Operalia in 2016, Ms. Fortunata also represented Canada at 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.