Fortuna

Brazilian singer and composer of Jewish extraction, Fortuna has a solid background in music, dance and theatrical arts. For several years she performed with different artists in Brazil and abroad, singing Brazilian popular music. A gifted composer, she created a whole repertoire of songs with poet Paulo Leminski.

It was during a tour in Israel in 1991 that she heard Sephardic music for the first time. This fortunate encounter would be a turning point in her life. "It a was a magic moment’", she says. "I felt all the beauty, sweetness and wisdom contained in these songs. It resulted in a complete turnaround in my career and also in a deeper contact with Jewish culture, religion and customs".

Since then Fortuna started to do intensive research, bringing back to life many of those almost-forgotten medieval songs. She has since presented them in many successful performances in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and the US, and has launched five cds - La Prima Vez, Cantigas, Mediterraneo, Mazal and in 2001, Caelestia. Together, they have sold more than 100,000 copies in Brazil, UK, Argentina, Spain, Israel, Taiwan and the USA. Her last cd Caelestia, presents Fortuna singing with a choir of Benedictine Monks, songs in Hebrew, Ladino and Latin from both the Jewish and Christian liturgy. This new project has met with great reception by press and public and has resulted in many packed shows around Brazil.