Soprano Maria Fortuna Dean has gained worldwide acclaim from audiences and critics alike, in repertoire ranging from lyric soprano to dramatic coloratura roles. Engagements (under the name Maria Fortuna) have included Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Opéra National de Bordeaux, Seattle Opera, Dallas Opera and Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania; Violetta in La traviata with San Francisco Opera and Welsh National Opera; Lucia di Lammermoor with Hawaii Opera Theater and Austin Lyric Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania; Acis in Acis and Galatea with Spoleto, USA and Opera da Camera Linz, Austria; Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Long Beach Opera; Salud in La vida breve with Dallas Opera; Musetta in La bohème with San Francisco Opera and Florida Grand Opera; Sandrina in La finta giardiniera with Washington National Opera; Diana in La Calisto and VespinainL’infedelta delusa with Opera da Camera Linz; Queen Isabella in Christophe Colomb with San Francisco Opera; and Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with New York City Opera.Her recordings include the Italienische Sängerin in San Francisco Opera’s production of Capriccio conducted by Donald Runnicles, released on DVD by KULTUR Video.

In concert, Dean has appeared as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Oakland Symphony, the Sacramento Symphony, the Chautauqua Symphony, Sinfonia San Francisco, the Maui Symphony, and made her Carnegie Hall debut in the Bruckner Te deum with Riccardo Muti. She was featured alongside Marilyn Horne on the Live From Lincoln Center telecast of The Rossini Bicentennial Gala with Roger Norrington conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, which was recorded and released on CD by Virgin Classics.

Fortuna Dean was born in Niagara Falls, NY. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music and her Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music; she is an alumna of the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera, where she was also an Adler Fellow. Ms. Fortuna Dean is the Director of Opera Studies at Pasadena City College and is Lecturer in Voice at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Previously, she was a member of the voice faculties of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Carnegie Mellon University, and SUNY Fredonia. She is also currently on the voice faculty of The Chautauqua Institution.