Carla Maffioletti is a Brazilian opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 singer.

She was born in the largest city in southern Brazil; a port town on Guaíba River

Guaíba River

The Guaíba River is a waterway in Rio Grande do Sul, a state of southern Brazil. It is famous for its beautiful reflection at sunset. The Guaíba is an extension of the Lagoa dos Patos, a huge coastal lagoon to the south, and although commonly referred to as a river, the Guaíba is a brackish water...

. As a very young girl she began playing the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 before changing to classical guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

. Her talents were such that by her early teens she was performing at concerts throughout the country. While at university she began taking singing lessons and very quickly developed her outstanding voice.

Multilingual, Maffioletti decided to study voice at the Maastricht Academy of Music in Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, as did her friend Carmen Monarcha

Carmen Monarcha

Carmen Monarcha is a Brazilian soprano singer.Born into an artistic family in northern Brazil, her father is a writer and her mother a renowned Brazilian singer. She learned from a young age to play the cello and the piano and at first trained to be a concert cellist...

. While attending the academy, she came to the attention of André Rieu

André Rieu

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...

 who hired her as a vocalist with his Johann Strauss Orchestra

Johann Strauss Orchestra

The Johann Strauss Orchestra was founded by André Rieu in 1987. At the time of its first concert on January 1, 1988 the orchestra consisted of 12 musicians. In 2008 the orchestra has expanded to 43 members and performs regularly with guest musicians and singers such as Mirusia Louwerse, Carmen...

.

In addition to global touring with the orchestra, Maffioletti has performed as a soloist on several of Rieu's albums and has appeared in his PBS

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 television broadcasts in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

External links

• Carla Maffioletti's Official website http://www.carlamaffioletti.com
• www.andrerieutranslations.com/JSO/Carla-Mafioletti.html