Maria Luigia Borsi

Born in Forsa, southeast of Rome, in 1973, lyric soprano Maria Luigia Borsi spent her childhood in a choir and studied singing at the Pietro Mascagni Music Institute in Livorno, Tuscany, before embarking on a career in opera. A student of Renata Scotto and Antonietta Stella, she won the Sanremo singing competition in 2002 and toured for three years in a row with jury president Andrea Bocelli, making her voice known around the world, from Europe to Asia and the USA. In 2004, Maria Luigia Borsi made her debut at La Scala de Milan in Puccini's Turandot, under the direction of Carlo Rizzi. Two years later, she sang the title role in La Traviata at La Fenice in Venice, with conductor Lorin Maazel. Invited to perform at the closing ceremony of the Shanghai Olympic Games with José Carreras (2007), the singer appeared the following year at the Salzburg Festival in Otello, conducted by Riccardo Muti. She gives several recitals at London's Wigmore Hall and records the album Italian Soprano Arias (2014) with conductor Yves Abel. In 2001, an asteroid discovered by Italian astronomers was named in her honor.