Bruce D'Fonseca is originally from Suriname, a country found on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America and now lives in the outskirts of Hammond. 66-year-old "Bruce the Whistler" got his nickname through  his hobby of whistling, which has been a passion of his since he was 14 years old.
As a teenager, D'Fonseca loved the beautiful voices of classical performers. He wanted to imitate his favorite vocalists, but was not confident in his own singing abilities. Instead, he decided to whistle the songs he loved. D'Fonseca's first inspiration was the "Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss II.
"I said, 'Oh, I can't do that vocally, but I'm going to train myself to become a whistler.' At that time, I couldn't go that high, but I trained myself, trained myself, trained myself so that I could go faster. I would try to hit the notes and I was determined. Over the years, I got the high notes," said D'Fonseca.
There are many who appreciate his talent. He gives out free CDs, and currently there are seven videos that have been uploaded on YouTube of him whistling. D'Fonseca whistles for people in Walmart, various parking lots, outside in nature and anywhere else he goes. After 52 years of whistling, he has a seven-octave range.
"I see it as a gift from the Creator that you just have to polish up, and so I whistle and I practice just about every day. I practice with the electrical keyboard with five octaves. I do all five octaves and I can do more," said D'Fonseca.
The article entitled "Bruce the Whistler" by New Orleans Magazine says that as a youth, the opera singers that inspired him on the radio were Enrico Caruso, Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas.
According to D'Fonseca, the word "coloratura" is an Italian word meaning "coloring of the wise." Merriam Webster defines coloraturas as "a style of singing usually in opera that contains a lot of high notes sung very fast" and an aria as "a song in an opera sung by one person." Although another one of his pastimes is singing, D'Fonseca primarily focuses on whistling songs in these styles.
D'Fonseca cannot read music. He practices each song over and over until he is confident he knows it by heart. He will not whistle a song or perform it unless he knows the song in its entirety. When D'Fonseca whistles, he does so carefully, paying attention to his tone, pitch, quality of the note, volume and how accurate it is to the original song.
"You have to be very picky, very critical if you want to be good. Try to be the very best," said D'Fonseca.
D'Fonseca records his songs on his iPhone 4 and then uploads them onto his laptop. Then he burns the songs onto CDs and distributes them at no cost.
On YouTube, his most popular video is entitled "Bruce the Whistler" which demonstrates him hitting a higher range of notes. This video has over 600 views.  
At one point, D'Fonseca was a registered nurse in Suriname. He then became a nursing assistant after moving to the United States at age 26. Now, he is retired and devotes much of his time to sharing this gift with the world.
"I am up in age, it's a gift of God. I am retired. I am trying to record it before I lose it. I want to do more. I want to give it to the world. I don't want money, to be tied to a record company or any institution. I believe an artist should do what they like to do, their interpretation. I don't like to control people or be controlled. This was a gift given by the Creator to me, so I share with other people," said D'Fonseca.