Amanda Martinez is a Toronto-based singer-songwriter whose music is an original blend of influences from her Mexican and South African roots. She has released four acclaimed albums on which she performs Mexican ballads, Cuban sones, Brazilian bossa novas and other Latin American genres. In addition to her music career, Martinez works as an actress in film and television.

Composer Luis Bonfá and lyricist Antônio Maria wrote the iconic love song “Manhã de Carnaval” (Carnival Morning) for the 1959 Oscar-winning film Black Orpheus. It was one of the first bossa nova songs to become popular outside of Brazil. “Morning, such a beautiful morning / In life, a new song /Singing only your eyes, your laughter, your hands.”