Rosalia de Souza is a Brazilian bossa nova singer. She was born in Nilópolis in the state of Rio de Janeiro, an area famous for Beija Flor Samba. After travelling to Italy at the age of 21, in 1989 she began studying musical theory, Cuban percussions, jazz and jazz history at the 'Scuola Popolare di Testaccio' (Popular school of Testaccio) in Rome.