Soprano Maria Fernanda Martino Avila

Soprano Maria Fernanda Martino Avila is from Italian/Argentinean descent, which is a perfect basis for developing her musical and international cultural background. She studied song, piano and flute at the National Conservatorium “Carlos López Buchardo” and finished her singing studies at the prestigious ‘Teatro Colón’ Institute of Art in Buenos Aires.

She performed as soloist with many renowned Argentinean choirs such as the National Junior Choir under the direction of Néstor Zadoff; the Alianza Francesa Choir from Buenos Aires directed by Julio Fainguersh and the Chorale choir from the GCC Group conducted by Néstor Andrenacci. She went on a large European tour with this famous choir and gave concerts in Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and England.

Fernanda acted in various operas such as: “Rosa” in “Le Cantatrici Villane” by Fioravanti; “Rita” in the similarly-named opera from Donizetti; she played various roles in operas by Mozart such as “Zerlina” in “Don Giovanni”,  “Barbarina” in “Bodas de Fígaro” and the “second lady” in “Die Zauberflöte”. In addition, she played “Gertrudis” in the opera “Hänsel und Gretl” by Humperdinck; “Berta” in “Barbero de Sevilla” by Rossini and many other roles in productions from Argentinean and foreign composers.

In 2000, Fernanda came to the Netherlands, where her career took another turn by following a new path.

In 2001, she took part in the programme “Una Voce Particolare”, where she came first.  Together with Ernst Daniël Smid, she sung the duet “Una Melodía de Amor” for the Ernst Daniël Smid e Amici CD, released by Edel Records. She sang with the “Lamoraal van Egmond” conducted by Marcel Visser and was soloist in the TV programme “Una Voce Liberale” from the TROS.

She had a number of leading roles with the Heiloo Operetta Society and the ‘Stichting Eigen Wijs Amsterdam’ group; Fernanda performed the role of “Suor Angelica” in the similarly-named opera by Puccini.

Together with pianist Marcelo Bussi, she formed the ensemble “El Desamor” and gave repertoires of classical pieces from opera and Argentinean music from the beginning of the 19th century; and gave concerts throughout the Netherlands.

In addition, Fernanda added yet another repertoire to her bow by performing tangos in liaison with the Tango Group “Las Papas Calientes”. She gave various performances with this group in the North Holland concert halls, such as in De Vest in Alkmaar where she surprised the audience by performing the original tango with classical elements.  

Recently, together with the Argentinean pianist Barbara Verassi Vega, she formed the duo “Las Porteñas”,where she renders a unique repertoire of classical music and tango.

Fernanda is not only a talented singer; she is also a dynamic entrepreneur. She organises varied musical events and gives talks about Argentinean and Italian culture and music. Just recently, Fernanda has recorded poems in Spanish from the Noble Desire book by Mohiba Khalil, which will shortly be available on DVD.