Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., (born June 9, 1957) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest notable for his evangelical musical contributions of various genres, primarily Catholic-based

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and hip hop.

Biography

Fortuna is a United States citizen of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

heritage. His lifelong interest in music began in the second grade when he received an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

for

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

. He spent his formative years playing improvisational sessions in and around

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Fortuna studied with the legendary jazz musician,

Lennie Tristano Leonard Joseph Tristano (March 19, 1919 – November 18, 1978) was an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and teacher of jazz improvisation. Tristano studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in music in Chicago before moving to New Yo ...

, and was an accomplished professional bass player before becoming a priest.

Career

Fortuna is one of the eight original members of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a Franciscan order established by Cardinal John Joseph O'Connor in 1987. Father Stan was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

as a priest in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

in 1990. Father Fortuna established the non-profit Francesco Productions in 1987 as a means to record and distribute

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

music, video productions and books as well as handle his speaking and concert engagements; all proceeds benefit the Community's work with the poor of the South Bronx where he lives. Francesco International Love Outreach was later started to assist in working with the poverty-stricken outside of the US, including the underprivileged in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. An international speaker, Father Fortuna has been a featured presenter at numerous

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

youth conferences like Steubenville and has numerous appearances to his credit on the

EWTN The Eternal Word Television Network, more commonly known by its initials EWTN, is an American basic cable television network which presents around-the-clock Catholic-themed programming. It is not only the largest Catholic television network in ...

program, ''Life on the Rock''. He frequently performs and lectures in the United States and countries in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. His work and music have garnered articles in a number of publications including the US hip hop magazine XXL and in the New York Press; he has also appeared on ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' and MuchMusic's "Popoganda". Father Fortuna has released over 18 CDs in a variety of musical genres. His latest rap CD is ''Sacro Song 3: The Completion of the Trilogy'', and "Seraphic Wanderer", containing a variety of musical styles and released in 2009, is dedicated to his mother. He has also released a jazz CD through Universal Music with his trio, Scola Tristano. He has written three books ''U Got 2 Believe'', ''U Got 2 Pray'' and ''U Got 2 Love'' - all published by OSV. A documentary on his life and work entitled ''Sent'' has been produced. His third inspirational book ''U Got 2 Love'' was released in December 2009. Among his most memorable songs ar
''Everybody Got 2 Suffer''
and ''Cell 91'' from the albu

'. Father Fortuna spends most of his time preaching and doing concerts in the United States, Canada, Africa and Europe. During 2008 he performed at

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for young people organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985, sometimes nicknamed in later years as the "Catholic Woodstock". Its concept has been influenced by the Light-L ...

, Australia, participated in an international conference at the Divine Retreat Center in India and was keynote speaker at the Diocesan Youth Conference in Victoria,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Discography

Albums

*''Surrender To Stillness'' (1994) *''Take My Heart'' (1995) *''First Collection'' (1996) *''Loved By You'' (1997) *''Fr. Stan Live - The Spirit of the Lord and the Art of Improvising ive' (1998) *''Traditional Catholic Hymns'' (1999) *''Second Collection'' (2000) *''I Will Worship You'' (2000) *''I Hear You Got Plans / Do You Love Me? ingle' (2000) *''Sacro Song'' (1998) *''Sacro Song II'' (2002) *''Scola Tristano'' *''New Culture Concert Live in New York Jazz'' *''The Great One'' *''Christmas Culture: Sacred & Secular'' *''Brazilian Collection'' *''Adoration'' (2003) *''Sacro Song 3: The Completion of the Trilogy'' (2006) *''Seraphic Wanderer'' (2009) *''Renewal'' (2012) *''Word World: Poetic Invasion'' (2014) *''I Will Sing'' (2017) *''Spirit Of Christmas'' (1988)

Bibliography

Books

*''U Got 2 Believe'' (2001) *''U Got 2 Pray: 100 Prayers for Daily Living in Modern Culture'' (2004) *''U Got 2 Love'' (2009)

References

External links

Francesco Productions
(Rev. Fortuna's official site)
Franciscan Friars of the Renewal

Father Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., Promovideo for the World Youth Day in Sydney 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortuna, Stan 20th-century American Roman Catholic priests 21st-century American Roman Catholic priests Franciscan Friars of the Renewal Contemporary Catholic liturgical music American bass guitarists American rappers 1957 births Living people 20th-century American guitarists American people of Italian descent American people of Greek descent 21st-century American rappers