Guitarist, composer and arranger, Marcelo Fortuna was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1965. He started out, teaching himself, on the “choro” circuit, where he played (and still plays) the seven - string guitar, the cavaquinho (a kind of ukelele) and the mandolin. He turned professional at the age of sixteen. He studied composition at the School of Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and orchestration at the Brazilian School of Music under the tutelage of Maestro Nelson de Macêdo. Later, he studied for his bachelor's degree in guitar with Turíbio Santos and Léo Soares, and harmony with Ian Guest. He was one of the founder members of the Orchestra of Brazilian Strings, and with them he made three recordings which were adjudged the best instrumental works of 1991 and 1992, and for which he received 3 Sharp awards. In addition to this, he has also collaborated on various recordings as instrumentalist and arranger.
As a composer, he has been considerably influenced by the Nationalist School of Heitor Villa-Lobos, Luciano Gallet, Radamés Gnattali, Guerra - Peixe, and Francisco Mignone; also by the Armorial Movement of Ariano Suassuna, and by his long experience as a musician of “choro” and samba. More recently, his compositions have aroused great interest among well-known
concert artists, who, as well as recording some of his works, have also commissioned pieces.
Marcelo has lived in Portugal since 1992. Since then, he has performed in concerts all over the country and in Spain, as well as teaching, composing and doing research.
He completed his bachelor's degree in guitar at the Escola Superior de Música of Lisbon in July 1999, under the direction of professors Piñero Nagy and António Gonçalves. He is presently a teacher of guitar and a member of the academic council of the Regional Conservatory of Baixo Alentejo in Beja, and is also musical director of the guitar orchestra of the same school.
Web: http://www.marcelofortuna.web.pt/marcelo3.htm