By Cassandra Lizaire

Opera performer and Bedford Park resident Anna Tonna, the recipient of a 2007 – 2008 Fulbright Award in Voice, leaves for Spain this month to study the Spanish composers who have so influenced her craft.

“I feel great!” said Tonna, 35, in a recent interview with the Norwood News. It was her last day at the Manhattan financial firm where she’d worked as an administrative assistant for the past 10 years. Her employers and co-workers, who had been supportive of her artistic pursuits throughout, held a party in her honor that day.

Tonna has studied and performed music for years – earning a B.A. in Music from Eckerd College and a master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music. She’s long infused a decade’s worth of recitals and performances with Spanish song and Latin American vocal elements.

Last summer, with the support of family, friends and musical mentors, Tonna decided to apply for a Fulbright scholarship to Spain, “squeezing the work of six months into two,” Tonna said.

After months of communication to secure advisors both here and abroad, as well as a performance audition, Tonna received the joyous news that she would be one of 30,000 individuals offered the prestigious Fulbright award – a U.S. student program administered by the Institute of International Education.

“I have chosen Spain for exploration of modern vocal influences and study with masterful experts,” Tonna wrote in her Fulbright proposal.

Her intentions are now a reality as she left in September for a nine-month academic and cultural experience in Spain.

There she will study the works of “La Generación del ’98,” a 20th century group of influential Spanish composers, including Julio Gomez. An important advisor to Tonna’s research in Madrid is Carlos Gomez Amat, the son of Julio Gomez, and a renowned music critic and Spanish author.

“I am thrilled that someone as bright and resourceful as Anna Tonna is not only doing the research but will probably end up performing it as well,” said Professor Nan Maro Babakhanian, the director of the international festival, “Interpretación de la Canción Española/Interpretation of Spanish Song.”

Babakhanian, who helped in the development of Tonna’s Fulbright project, looks forward to working with her to publicize the scores and manuscripts of Gomez through the festival and to “revive the art of singing in Spanish, much of which is not taught in the conservatories.”

“My attraction to this culture is also due in part to my family background,” said Tonna. Her mother is from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Spanish was the first language she learned. Tonna lived and studied in Santo Domingo throughout primary school before coming to the states for college.

In addition to the support of family, friends, and mentors along the way, Tonna is grateful for the help and guidance of The Bronx Opera Company and its artistic director, Michael Spierman.

Spierman gave Tonna an opportunity to join the company five years ago after seeing her perform at Lehman College.

“You can only learn to be an opera singer by doing it, being onstage, being in costume,” Tonna said.

“She is a fine, outstanding singer and actress who always distinguishes herself with great achievement,” said Spierman of Tonna. “We wish her very well. She will be missed around here, but we expect that when she returns we will have some more wonderful performances together.”

Through her frequent performances in the Bronx, she became more familiar with the borough, which encouraged her to move to Bedford Park.

Coming from Astoria, Queens, Tonna has lived in the Bronx for two years now.

“I love the neighborhood,” Tonna said. “Bedford Park and Norwood are like the best kept secret. We became homeowners here and we live two blocks from the Bronx Botanical Garden.”

When Tonna says “we” she is referring to her husband, Steve Brown. The couple resides on Mosholu Parkway with their 18-year-old calico, Calypso. Tonna and Brown are not only celebrating her Fulbright award, but also a health milestone for Brown. August marked the fifth year her husband has been cancer-free.

“My husband is my number one supporter,” said Tonna of Brown, who was once diagnosed with a rare cancer of the soft tissue. A teacher at The Collegiate Institute for Math & Science on the Christopher Columbus High School Campus in the Bronx, Brown encouraged Tonna, who worked full time downtown while completing the long application process.