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It all started in September of 1997, when some members of TAUA, during a visit to Toronto, prompted a group of young university students to start the first tuna in Canada.  It was with this challenge, and the great effort and persistence of that group of 17 young people, that Luso-Can Tuna was born. 

Luso-Can Tuna was baptized on March 14, 1998, in Toronto, Canada, by the mui ilustre e nobre godmother Tuna, a Tuna Académica da Universidade dos Açores (TAUA).  This celebration coincided with the University of Toronto’s Portuguese Association’s Academic Week. 

Since then, Luso-Can Tuna has grown, learned and evolved; but, above all, Luso-Can Tuna has spread joy, friendship and bohemia.  The proof of this camaraderie and willpower is its existence after years of struggling to keep their traditions and culture alive and well attended in a distinctly multi-cultural country.  In March of 2018, Luso-Can Tuna celebrated its 20^th anniversary with the release of their first original CD, Carpe Diem.

This tuna has visited and performed in many parts of the world, including Portugal (both the continent and the Azores islands), the U.S. and Mexico.  It has had the honour of winning various awards at various festivals, including “melhor pandeireta” (best tambourine routines) and “Tuna Mais Tuna” (Overall Excellence).  Luso-Can Tuna has continued the tradition of music festivals here in Canada with their own FITCa (Festival Internacional de Tunas no Canadá).  The primary objectives f this tuna are the reasons it has flourished in these past 20 years:  keeping close the cultural bonds of their roots and home; keeping contact with TAUA, their godparents; promoting pride and interest in their roots to Luso-Canadian youth; creating a new cultural expression with a base always in tradition; representing the Torontonian Portuguese and Canadian communities wherever they go; and, above all, being ambassadors and showing testament to teamwork and camaraderie to rest of the world.

The names of the 17 founding members of this Tuna are as follows:  Ana Bailão, António Gomes, Cindy Lopes, Clemente Alves, Cristina Nunes, David Roberts, Emanuel Maiato, George Galego, Isabel Quintaneiro, Joe Santos, Monica Marques, Nuno Azeredo, Patricia Ribeiro, Silvia Lima, Sonia Fernandes, Sonia Tavares, Tania Ribeiro.

Help us write History. Contribute your story, memory or experience related to this organization by sending an email to contact@lusocanada.com.

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Luso-Can Tuna: Academic Tradition and Pride in our Roots

14 March 2024

By Sandy Costa, Luso-Can Tuna’s Secretary and Treasurer

Luso-Can Tuna is an organization that stems from a centuries-old academic tradition from the Iberian peninsula. In the thirteenth century, the first version of today’s universities were created in Spain and Portugal, allowing young people of certain means from all over the peninsula to formalize their studies. Some of these students would come to be known as “sopistas”, poorer students who used their musical talent, their charm, and their playfulness to pass through noble homes, convents, streets, and public squares, and play in exchange for a plate of soup (thus their name). Over time, these students created traditions and a shared history, which has spread to Europe and Latin America.

Luso-Can Tuna is a continuation of that history in North America. As the only tuna in North America, Luso-Can Tuna is charged with keeping the academic and musical tradition of tunas alive. In 1997, the Tuna Academica da Universidade dos Acores (TAUA) travelled to Canada, and dared a group of university students to create their own tuna here in Toronto. As such, TAUA is considered the “tuna madrinha” of Luso-Can Tuna; they were officially baptized on March 14, 1998.

Since then, Luso-Can Tuna has spread the history of this academic tradition through Toronto and the GTA, as well as spreading their particularly Canadian version of this tradition around the world to places like Mexico, Portugal, Spain, and the United States of America.

While in Lisbon, Luso-Can Tuna was granted the honour of a meeting with the Canadian Ambassador to Portugal, Dr. Robert Vanderloo, and His Excellency, the Secretary of State for Communities, Eng. Jose Lello, as well as other Portuguese and Canadian government officials.

On February 28, 2014, Luso-Can Tuna had the enormous honour of receiving the Order of Merit, given by then-President of the Portuguese Republic, Anibal Cavaco Silva. This Order is awarded to Portuguese civilians who have performed actions of self-sacrifice for their community.

Luso-Can Tuna has curated a series of festivals over the years where tunas from Portugal, Spain, Europe, and Latin America have travelled to compete in the Festival Internacional de Tunas No Canada (FITCa). In between these festivals, other events such as Noite de Fados, community events, and this year’s Lusofonia have kept Luso-Can Tuna afloat and relevant to the tunante community in Portugal as well as the Luso-Canadian community in Canada.

The primary objectives of this tuna are the reasons it has flourished in these past 20 years:  keeping close the cultural bonds of their roots and home; keeping contact with TAUA, their godparents; promoting pride and interest in their roots to Luso-Canadian youth; creating a new cultural expression with a base always in tradition; representing the Torontonian Portuguese and Canadian communities wherever they go; and, above all, being ambassadors and showing testament to teamwork and camaraderie to the rest of the world.

Luso-Can Tuna practices every Friday at St. Helen’s Parish Hall, and practices are open to everyone!

To learn more about the history of tunas, visit Luso-Can Tuna’s website: www.lusocantuna.com.

Follow Luso-Can Tuna on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

If you notice errors or misrepresentations in the article, please e-mail contact@lusocanada.com

Help us write History. Contribute your story, memory or experience related to this organization by sending an email to contact@lusocanada.com.