Artist Spotlight: ADA DE LUQUE

Official Site: www.luzartmusic.com

Next Appereance: 02.14.2003 Extend the romance after your Valentine's dinner by taking your loved ones to an enchanting evening where music, sophistication and seduction are fused into an inviting cocktail of pure delight. An intimate setting at the Café at Power Studios will await you. The event will feature Cuban-born Ada de Luque. Ada has performed in over 4000 events and was awarded Best Female Nightclub Performer by the Association of Critics and Commentators of America three (3) consecutive years. Quoting Pavarotti, "Ada has a beautiful voice of rich velvety quality". Click here for further details. Tickets are $15.00 in advance and $20.00 at the door. Advanced purchase is recommended by calling Esther Mallouh at 305-582-7015.

Bio

Born in Cuba of Spanish origin, Ada de Luque's love for music and singing started as a little girl, while listening and singing along with her parents and their friends as they performed classical boleros and Spanish songs accompanied by their guitars..

At five years old, her family transferred to Miami. Without losing touch with her musical heritage, Ada was exposed to a broad spectrum of musical influences, from soul and rock-and- roll to jazz, blues and classical. It was her affmity and love towards classical music which eventually, at age 15, prompted her to start her classical vocal and musical training.

After winning several competitions and awards for young opera singers, including a grant from the Florida Grand Opera (then the Miami Opera Guild), before the age of 20, Ada, following the advice of famed soprano Mirella Freni, moved to Italy to perfect her art at the Conservatorio di Musica di Bologna, under the direction of Maestro Leone Magiera. While at the conservatory, she participated and won acclaim as one of the finalists in the prestigious International Luciano PavarottilPhiladelphia Opera Competitions, which began her longtime friendship with the Pavarotti family, including private vocal coaching from the famed tenor himself.

Performing in various important concerts and operatic productions both in Italy and Germany, Ada was at this point in her life, very well positioned to join the ranks of the opera divas - but fate had other plans.

While visiting Miami during Christmas vacation, Ada was faced with taking care of her mother, after a severe accident. Yet, interrupting her career and staying in Miami to care for her mother actually opened up a new realm of experience for Ada. She became the lead star at the best night club in town at that time, Les Violins Supper Club, garnering rave reviews for both her vocal style and showmanship. The ACCA (Association of Critics and Commentators of America) awarded her as "Best Female Nightclub Performer" for three consecutive years. Her success in the nightclub arena continued as she became the premiere Diva of the prestigious Fontaine Bleau Club Tropigala, winning her another ACCA award in 1996.

During this period, Ada's foray into song writing, a talent she began back in Italy, produced two global hits for the Latin market: "Alma de gitana" and "Te Borrare", recorded by Ednita Nazario, in the late 80's. This success prompted Ada to continue composing, expanding her style to different genres.

As the new millennium began, a new chapter in Ada's career takes flight, as she starts putting into words and music the personal and spiritual journeys that, while unique to this artist, are themes that are universal to us all.

"My latest project is a composite of all that I have learned both as a human being, as a woman, and an artist. And it is with great joy and love that I open my soul and heart to all of you, hoping that these songs will touch that which is romantic in you... that which is loving in you... and that in you which is Divine..."

Achievements

• Won high acclaim in performances of opera, concerts and recitals in Italy,
  Germany and the USA. For example, after singing Mimi in La Boheme in
  Forli, Italy, one critic exclaimed that Ada was ". . .the one Mimi that
  Puccini himself would have been happy to have seen and heard..."
• Has Been Nominated and Won the ACCA award for Best Night Club Performer four times and also received great critic acclaim in the local newspapers for her performances
• Successfully Performed Weekly on Channel 51, Buenas Tardes Miami in a Program created by Ms. De Luque called Nostal2ia remembering old Latin songs and boleros
• Composed two hit songs (Alma de Gitana and Te Borare) in the Latin market all over the world. Alma de Gitana was listed on Billboard's Top Ten
• Composed pop and classical songs, both secular and religious, that have been performed throughout South Florida

Our Interview with Ada de Luque

Q - Stage Name
A - Ada de Luque (a few years back, Ada Luque, as composer)

Q - Years in business
A - Since 16 years old, when I first performed in a Spanish musical comedy, a "zarzuela", in Miami.

Q - Favorite artists
A - Cassical/opera: Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa.......pop/jazz: KDLang, Anita Baker, Nina Simone, Sting.......composers: Puccini, Mozart, Verdi, Brahms, Gershwin, just to name a few........pop/jazz/musicals: Leonard Bernstein, Bola de Nieve, Jerome Kerns, Lloyd Webber, Michelle Legrand, Manzanero, etc.

Q - Growing up, what did you think you'd become?
A - Being a musician/singer was always foremost in my mind

Q - How did you get started in this business?
A - Firstly as an opera singer: when I first started studying voice at age 15, then 3 to 4 years afterwards started winning national competitions for young opera singers that really built up my confindence and my goal...which then took me to Italy to continue my musical and voice training, obtaining a Masters Degree from the Music Conservatory of Bologna, receiving private vocal coaching from Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni, and furthering my career with various important performances in Italy and Germany....

Secondly, as a jazz/pop/nightclub singer: after almost 6 years in Italy, I had to interrupt my career and stay in Miami to care for my mother's health, and it was then that I started my nightclub career as the lead singer at the then famous Les Violins Supper Club, and a few years later, continued my nightclub stage career at the reputable Tropigala Nightclub at the Fontaine Bleau Hilton in Miami Beach, both of which won me the honor of having been awarded the Best Female Nightclub Award by the ACCA (Association of Critics and Commentators of America)

Thirdly as a composer: in Italy I wrote lyrics in English for a well know rock group, and it sparked a fire in me to start composing...I continued to do so back in Miami, resulting in two hits in the Latin market both in the Americas and Europe, namely, Alma de Gitana and Te Borrare (sung by Ednita Nazario), and I also wrote original music for some of the shows both at Les Violins and Tropigala, which was well received by audiences and critics...

Q - What projects are you currently involved with?
A - My newest cd release, "Warm Summer Night Dreams", 12 songs in smooth jazz. with a touch of Latin-Caribbean and Classical music, 11 of which are original compositions of mine, and one standard. The cd can be sampled at www.luzartmusic.com. The mood of the lyrics ranges from highly sensual and romantic, to inspirational. And performing along with me in this production, I'm honored to have some of the best musicians from our area: Rey Rivera (piano, keyboards), John Georgini (trumpet, flugle horn), Manny Lopez (guitar), Daniel Berroa (percussion), Greg Diaz (saxophone, flute), Kenny Nieves (guitar), Deya Deynova (cello). The arrangements and the artistic production have been shared by me and my good friend and "musical soul mate" Rey Rivera, and I am very excited about the results... I think we have very harmoniously put together our musical influences and tastes to create a unique and beautiful framing for my songs.

Q - In your opinion, what makes you stand out from others in your field?
A - In the field of classical music, the fact that I can also perform jazz and pop and have very successfully, which is very rare for an opera singer.... in the field of pop and jazz, my classical music training, vocal training and experience, allows me to blend and mix both styles, as I have done in some of the songs in my newest release. For example in "Across the River of my Love", "Drume", and "Lascivious Love"...and, of course, my Cuban roots which enhance my love of rhythm, syncopation and acoustic percussion.

Q - What is your most memorable moment as a musician?
A - First, those moments that I see the look of joy and pleasure in the faces of my audiences because I have touched them with my music and my performance. Second, when I performed in the same concert season in Modena, Italy with great artists that included Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, and Maestro Leone Magiera.

Q - If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, how would you do it?
A - Extremely romantic, sensual, and spiritual.

Q - What do you consider your best quality to be?
A - Generosity.

Q - What do you do for fun when not performing?
A - Bond with my close friends, visit my mom, go to the movies, listen to good music, read, play with my doggies.

Q - What inspires you the most in life?
A - LOVE.

Q - What's your favorite food?
A - It's pretty simple--organic salads topped with an exotic dressing.

Q - What is the last good movie you saw?
A - Children in Heaven

Q - What was your craziest experience ever?
A - Driving a Masareti sports car at 135 mph on an expressway in Modena, Italy.

Q - The most impulsive thing I have ever done:
A - Snuck backstage after a performance of La Boheme to ask Mirella Freni for an audition with her and Luciano Pavarotti....and I GOT it, plus they gave me their letter of recommendation to enter the Music Conservatory in Modena.

Q - If I wasn't doing what I'm currently doing, I would be:
A - Helping people through healing and nutrition.

Q - If you could take a dream vacation anywhere in the world, where would it be?
A - Varadero Beach, Cuba.

Q - If you were anyone else for a day, who would you be?
A - Jesus Christ.

Q - If I looked in your cd player now, what kind of music might I see?
A - Turandot, my favorite opera by Puccini

Q - What advise would you give someone interested in your field?
A - If music makes your heart and soul sing, don't let anyone steer you away from it.
It's better to be a happy musician with not too much money, than in a lucrative profession that doesn't truly touch you. Best advice is to always follow your heart.

Q - What's one question we should have asked you but didn't?
A - What is my mission? It is twofold: first, to be a catalyst that generates positive
emotions in my listeners and second, to share the fruits of my music by donating 100% of net profits from cd sales to charities in need.

Q - Anything else you want to say to our readers?
A - Visit me at www.luzartmusic.com and let me know your thoughts.