Jackie Evancho

Jackie Evancho
Evancho in February 2011
Background information
Born	(2000-04-09) April 9, 2000
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres	Classical crossover
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Syco Music, Columbia, Sony Music
Website	jackieevancho.com

Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho (/iːˈveɪŋkoʊ/ ee-VAYNG-koh; born April 9, 2000) is an American child singer described as a classical crossover artist. Between 2008 and 2010, she entered several talent competitions; made singing appearances, mostly in Pennsylvania; issued an independent album, Prelude to a Dream; and attracted interest on YouTube. Later in 2010, at the age of 10, she gained wider popularity with her performances in the fifth season of the America's Got Talent (AGT) competition, finishing in second place. With the subsequent release of her O Holy Night EP, she became the best-selling debut artist of 2010, the youngest top-10 debut artist in U.S. history and the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum. In June 2011, her first full-length major-label album, Dream With Me, debuted at #2 on American album charts, and she became the youngest top-5 debut artist in UK history. Billboard ranked Evancho the top Classical Albums Artist for 2011.

Evancho impressed composers Tim Janis and David Foster, each of whom included her in his concerts beginning in 2009. Foster later produced Evancho's album, Dream With Me, and subsequent PBS special for the television series, Great Performances. Evancho performed in front of U.S. President Barack Obama at the 2010 National Christmas Tree lighting in Washington, D.C.. Evancho is the ambassador for "Mission: Humane", a Humane Society program which encourages children's involvement in the protection of animals. She features songs from Dream With Me in a 2011–12 concert tour with symphony orchestras. Evancho released another studio album, Heavenly Christmas, in November 2011. The same month, she became the youngest person ever to give a solo concert at Lincoln Center in New York City. A national cotillion organization listed her as one of the "ten best-mannered people of 2011".

Early life

Evancho was born to Lisa and Michael Evancho, who married in 1997. Her father operated a video security business until Evancho's singing and recording career required her parents' full-time attention. She has an older brother Jacob, a younger brother Zachary, and a younger sister Rachel. She was raised Catholic, attended Eden Hall Upper Elementary School from 2009 to 2010, but since she began to tour and record, she is cyber schooled. She resides in Richland Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her family and numerous pets. Evancho's interests include playing the violin and piano, and sewing.

Evancho's dedicated singing began just before her 8th birthday, after she saw the film version of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. Her mother purchased the DVD, and Evancho began to sing the songs around the family home. Her parents have said that they did not recognize that her voice was unusual until her first talent competition. In April 2008, her parents allowed her to enter the Kean Idol, a local talent contest. She finished as first runner-up; the winner was 20 years old. She began taking vocal lessons after her success in the contest, and her parents began receiving requests for her to sing at various events, mostly in Pennsylvania. She also started a YouTube channel and was a member of the Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh during its 2008–09 season.

In January 2009, Evancho competed in Las Vegas in the 15th annual U.S.A. World Showcase Talent Competition, where she also finished in second place. She entered the 2009 Kean Idol contest and was again runner-up to an adult. She entered other talent contests, winning the Golden Ribby Award – WonderworldTV in April 2009 and the Talent Quest TV Show in June 2009 (both in Massachusetts). Also in 2009, she sang "Ave Maria" in composer and conductor Tim Janis's PBS television special "Celebrate America" and performed in other concerts and TV shows with Janis, who sought her out after seeing her on YouTube. She also made various singing appearances around Pennsylvania in 2009 and 2010.

Career

David Foster and Prelude to a Dream

Evancho in "David Foster & Friends" concert, December 29, 2011

Evancho first caught record producer David Foster's attention in 2009. After sending a video to him, she was selected for the regional semifinals of his “Hitman Talent Search Contest”, finishing as runner-up, and in October 2009 she sang in the "David Foster & Friends" concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

In November 2009, Evancho released her independent debut album, Prelude to a Dream. The album featured mainly covers of songs such as Andrea Bocelli's "Con te partirò" and "The Prayer", Josh Groban's "To Where You Are" and Martina McBride's "Concrete Angel", and also included a rendition of "Amazing Grace", among other selections. It debuted in August 2010 on the Billboard 200 at #121 and at #2 on the Billboard Classical Albums Chart. Evancho's parents withdrew the album in September 2010, citing Evancho's vocal progress since its release. Since Evancho's success on America's Got Talent, the album has become a collector's item and an autographed copy received a final winning bid of $3,933.83 in 2012.

America's Got Talent

After two earlier unsuccessful auditions for the show, Evancho was accepted as a contestant on the fifth season of the America's Got Talent TV show (AGT) by placing first in a 2010 YouTube competition sponsored by the television show. On August 10, 2010, Evancho performed "O mio babbino caro" by Giacomo Puccini. She received a standing ovation after her performance and was awarded a trip to Universal Studios Florida for receiving the most fan votes of all the YouTube submissions to the show. Judge Howie Mandel said in his critique that the show sought to "find that one moment, that one gem, that one star from a place we've never looked before ... This is the moment. You're the star." After Evancho's performance, astonished commentators queried whether her performance had been lip-synched. On the next evening's live show, Mandel requested that Evancho sing an impromptu voice exercise as proof that the broadcast heard by the audience was Evancho's live voice.

Her semifinal performance was "Time To Say Goodbye". She advanced to the Top 10, where on September 7, 2010, she performed "Pie Jesu" from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem and was voted into the Final 4. Her final competition performance was her rendition of Gounod's "Ave Maria" on September 14. The following evening at the AGT season finale, Evancho performed "Time To Say Goodbye" together with guest artist Sarah Brightman; then Evancho was announced as the runner-up, finishing second to singer Michael Grimm. Many viewers and commentators felt that Evancho should have won, and even Grimm expressed surprise. The show brought Evancho wide exposure to American audiences, as up to 16 million viewers watched her performances. Evancho performed in 10 of the 25 cities in the America's Got Talent national tour from October 1 to November 5, 2010. From June 2010 until 2011, Evancho coached with voice teacher Yvie Burnett, a mezzo-soprano from Scotland, who has worked with many of Simon Cowell's acts.

Performances and results

Week	Round	Song choice	Original artist/Composer	Performance order	Result
Quarterfinals	YouTube	"O mio babbino caro"	Giacomo Puccini	12	Advanced to Semifinals
Semifinals	Top 24	"Time To Say Goodbye"	Andrea Bocelli	11	Advanced to Top 10
Top 10	Top 10	"Pie Jesu"	Andrew Lloyd Webber	10	Advanced to Finale
Finale	Top 4	"Ave Maria"	Charles Gounod	3	Runner-up

Tim Janis scheduled Evancho to perform in his show at Carnegie Hall in New York City on December 2, 2010, where she would have been the venue's youngest female vocal soloist. During the AGT tour, however, her parents withdrew her from the Carnegie Hall event.

O Holy Night

Main article: O Holy Night (Jackie Evancho album)

Evancho's first release on a major record label was a Columbia Records EP entitled O Holy Night. It was released on November 16, 2010, and reached rank #1 on Amazon's bestsellers in music during pre-orders on October 19, 2010. It entered the Billboard 200 at #2, making Evancho the top-selling debut artist for 2010 and the youngest solo artist ever to debut in the top 10. It also launched at #1 on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart and the Canadian Classical Albums Chart. It was #2 on Billboard's Holiday Albums Chart. The album sold 239,000 copies in its first week. On December 10, 2010, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA, shipping an excess of a million copies in the U.S., making Evancho the youngest solo artist ever to go platinum. Allmusic rated the EP 2-1/2 stars out of a possible five.

File:EvanchoPresSanta.jpg

Evancho with President Obama and Santa at the National Christmas Tree Lighting, December 2010

Evancho's first stop in promoting the album was The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on September 23, 2010, where she sang and gave her first late-night interview with Jay Leno. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on October 19, 2010, along with singers Susan Boyle and Debby Boone. During this appearance, she named Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli among the artists that she would like to collaborate with in the future, later adding Lady Gaga, and saying that writing is her favorite school subject. During the episode, she sang "Pie Jesu", and footage was shown of Evancho at home and in school. Among several other talk shows, QVC appearances and holiday singing appearances, Evancho performed on The Today Show on November 9, 2010, The View on November 15, 2010 and Martha Stewart Living on November 30, 2010, each of which appearances also featured interviews.

On November 30, 2010, Evancho sang "O Holy Night" and, together with Katherine Jenkins, "Silent Night", on NBC's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting special, "Christmas in Rockefeller Center". Such a duet had been anticipated since Piers Morgan commented on the similar appearance of the two singers. On December 9, 2010, Evancho performed at the National Christmas Tree lighting event in Washington, D.C., singing "O Holy Night", with President Obama and his family present. She performed at the 27th annual Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which aired on ABC television on December 25, 2010. She also sang "O Holy Night" in the My Macy's Holiday Parade presented by WPXI in Pittsburgh on November 27, 2010.

In its 2011 year-end charts (including releases from November 2010), Billboard ranked O Holy Night at #1 on its Classical Albums chart. It also ranked the album as the #15 best-selling album of 2011 in the U.S.

Dream with Me

Main article: Dream With Me

File:EvanchoDoubleWave.jpg

Evancho waving at the audience at her Lincoln Center Dream With Me concert, November 2011

Evancho's second full-length feature album (her first on a major label), Dream with Me, produced by David Foster for Sony and Syco Music, was released on June 14, 2011. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, reached #1 on the Billboard's U.S. Classical Chart, and was certified gold by the RIAA. The album also performed well internationally, with Evancho becoming the youngest artist ever to debut in the UK in the top 5. On its 2011 year end charts, Billboard ranked Dream With Me as the #2 best-selling Classical Album for the year and as the #45 U.S. album of 2011. The album includes 14 tracks ranging from popular songs ("Angel") to classical arias ("Ombra mai fu"), and original songs, including the title track for which Evancho contributed some of the lyrics; a deluxe edition of Dream with Me available only at the Target website includes four bonus tracks: "Someday", "Mi Mancherai", "The Impossible Dream" and "A Time For Us". Allmusic gave the album 3-1/2 stars out of a possible five, commenting: "Dream with Me hits all of the right notes, though there are few surprises or big moments to be found ... resulting in a solid "official" debut from a rising star at the dawn of her career."

Evancho promoted the album on talk shows and concerts in the U.S. and in Toronto. She filmed a solo concert television special that included nearly the same songs as the CD and first aired June 14, 2011, on PBS stations. The program was the most frequently broadcast of the PBS Great Performances series, and Evancho was the youngest soloist ever on the series. The concert was taped in April 2011 at the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, and was co-hosted by David Foster, who played the piano in the orchestra for many of the selections, while Conrad Tao played piano or violin for some selections. The performances were released as a CD/DVD set in September 2011, Dream With Me In Concert. Allmusic noted: "the concert version ... sounds nearly identical (outside of the waves of applause) to the studio album ... but the accompanying DVD, which features the heavily choreographed performance, as well as an extensive photo gallery and interviews with both Evancho and Foster, should provide enough eye and ear candy to appease fans of the gifted young vocalist until a proper follow-up appears. USA Today rated the album 2-1/2 stars out of four: "[Evancho's] sweet, unblemished vocal tone and slow, careful vibrato hardly betray her young age. ... But Dream's predictable and often bombastic odes to love and faith can undermine the tween's most appealing quality: innocence. I'd have preferred a little less pomp and Puccini and more youthful wonder."

In July 2011, the singer began her first solo tour across the United States, to promote the album. It consisted of a series of often sell-out performances with symphony orchestras, beginning with the Sun Valley Orchestra on July 31, followed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on August 5, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra on August 7 (with Conrad Tao as pianist), the Omaha Symphony Orchestra on August 26, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on August 31 and her hometown Pittsburgh Opera on October 16. The opera company took the opportunity to introduce Evancho's fans (including many newcomers to opera) to its chorus and soloists, who performed several opera pieces along with Evancho's solos. As part of the tour, Evancho made her New York City solo concert debut at Avery Fisher Hall on November 7, 2011, becoming the youngest person ever to sing solo at Lincoln Center. She received repeated standing ovations. Her last appearance of the year to promote the album was in Las Vegas on December 29, 2011, with David Foster.

In 2012, Evancho continued her "Dream With Me" tour, beginning in January at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, in California. In her 2012 series of U.S. concerts, her duet partner has been tenor Josh Page. Her next "Dream With Me" concerts were in February 2012, with the San Diego Symphony at Copley Symphony Hall, at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Los Angeles, and with Fresno Grand Opera's orchestra. In March, Evancho is scheduled to give concerts in San Francisco at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, in Sacramento at Community Center Theatre, and in West Valley City, Utah at Maverik Center.

Heavenly Christmas

Main article: Heavenly Christmas

Evancho's 2011 Christmas album, Heavenly Christmas, has ten tracks and was produced by Rob Mounsey It was released on November 1, 2011, exclusively at Walmart and Walmart.com in the U.S. Evancho is accompanied by the Orchestra of St. Luke's and the New York Chorus of St. Cecilia, conducted by Rob Mounsey. The selections include traditional Christmas Carols like "The First Noël" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem", standards like "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "White Christmas", and newer songs, such as "Walking in the Air" (from the 1982 animated film The Snowman) and "Believe" (from the 2004 movie soundtrack The Polar Express).

Evancho in Las Vegas, Nevada, December 2011

The album entered the Billboard Classical Albums chart at #1, the Holiday Albums chart at #3, and the Billboard 200 at #16, peaking at #11. It peaked at #9 on the Canadian Albums chart. On its 2011 year end charts, Billboard ranked Dream With Me as the #4 best-selling Classical Album for the year. Allmusic's review gives the album three stars, commenting, "Evancho's vocals are impressive as always, and the arrangements are mostly tasteful, with only occasional moments of bombast". The Salt Lake City Tribune rated the album "A-", writing: "some of us are still taken aback when we hear such a strong, womanly voice float out of an 11 year-old child. ... Her best offering is the cherubic 'Believe'." After hearing Evancho sing "The First Noël", Christopher John Farley of The Wall Street Journal wrote, "When [she] speaks, she has a little girl voice and talks about little girl things, like doing chores, and kittens. But when she sings, she sounds like she’s channeling a past life, a future self, or possibly an actual angel."

As with her previous albums, Evancho made talk show appearances on all the major television networks to promote Heavenly Christmas, singing "The First Noël" on The View and The Talk, and "Believe" on The Tonight Show, as well as giving concerts in December 2011 in Buffalo, New York; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Pittsburgh, featuring tenor Christopher Dallo. As of January 2012, over 300,000 copies of Heavenly Christmas had been sold in the U.S.

Other music performances

Evancho performed the American national anthem at Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games and at various events in 2009 and 2010, often at the invitation of Pennsylvania state senator Jane Orie, for example at a memorial ceremony at the United Flight 93 crash site. Evancho performed the anthem at the NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2011, at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. In January 2011, she performed at the Beverly Hills Chefs for Seals event in support of efforts to end the annual Canadian seal hunt. Evancho is the ambassador for Mission: Humane, a Humane Society of the United States program that encourages children to help protect animals. In February 2011, she performed her first full-length concert, in Houston Texas with the Houston Chamber Choir. On March 12, 2011, she sang at the 2011 Festival of the Arts Boca, along with young stars of the Metropolitan Opera. Evancho sang during Muhammad Ali's "Celebrity Fight Night" charity event, in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 19, 2011. She also sang the introduction to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on Oprah's farewell special broadcast on May 25, 2011.

On June 4, 2011, Evancho performed as a guest artist at the season finale of Britain's Got Talent. After touring over the summer, on September 14, 2011, she returned to America's Got Talent as a guest artist, performing "Nessun dorma" during the finale of the sixth season. Evancho recorded a duet with Tony Bennett of the song When You Wish upon a Star, which appears as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of his 2011 album Duets II. She also sings "Pie Jesu" on the 2011 album Hit Man Returns: David Foster & Friends (2011). She has continued to tell interviewers that she would like to sing a duet with Lady Gaga.

Evancho sang in two David Foster & Friends concerts on October 19–20, 2011, in Tokyo, where she also appeared in several Japanese television interviews. She returned to Japan to participate in the newly reopened Bunkamura Orchard Concert Hall's program on January 11, 2012, called "Musical meets Symphony", and to give her own Dream With Me concert there with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra on January 13, 2012. While there, she sang for the Imperial family. On February 2, 2012, Evancho sang at the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast before President Obama and congressional and international leaders.

Acting

Evancho had some early theatre experience performing in High School Musical with Pittsburgh Musical Theater in 2007. She also appeared briefly as an extra in the 2010 film She's Out of My League. Her first featured television appearance was in the episode "Back To Max" of the final season of the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place (2011) singing "America the Beautiful" in Tribeca Prep's "Spirit of America Play" and asking Mr. Laritate if her performance was sufficient to "work off" detention.

Evancho is set to appear in the forthcoming feature film The Company You Keep, which is billed as a political thriller and expected to be released in late 2012. She plays Isabel, the eleven-year-old daughter of a widowed Albany attorney turned fugitive, Jim Grant, played by Robert Redford, who also directs the film. Grant is a former Weather Underground militant who is pursued by the FBI, and by an ambitious journalist, when his identity is uncovered. Evancho said in 2012: "I don't think I want to act full time. I think I might like to do something with a Disney special or make a movie once in a while that would give me enough time to sing and record, but that's about it."

Reception and reputation

Evancho at the Grove Christmas Tree lighting, November 2011

Christopher Hahn, General Director of the Pittsburgh Opera, said of Evancho's performance of "O mio babbino caro" on America's Got Talent, "It's very unusual for a young child to have a voice that sounded so rich and developed." "I thought she was just lovely, sweetly compelling", said Hahn. "It is quite unusual to hear a young girl with that level of warmth and roundness." Hahn particularly praised Evancho's phrasing. Etta Cox, a jazz singer and instructor from Pittsburgh, echoed many commenters: "Her voice just doesn't fit her body. ... The maturity of her voice is incredible for someone her age." Antony Walker, Pittsburgh Opera's music director, said: "she has a very sincere way of singing. ... Her voice has a lovely quality to it. It's very simple singing but it comes from the heart. You rarely hear someone so young with such a beautiful voice".

Composer Tim Janis commented that Evancho "takes a classical piece and makes it friendly and accessible. ... Her voice is so pure and natural, there's no flaw in it. People say 'I can hear her potential coming,' but no, it's here, it's now." Critic Tim Page disagreed, writing of Evancho's AGT performance of "O mio babbino caro" that Evancho "has many years of work ahead of her before she becomes any sort of musician." Nekesa Mumbi Moody, however, writing for Associated Press and ABC News, commented that although "there is a youthful quality in Jackie's voice, it's hardly childlike: It's a soprano that deftly traverses the musical scales". Claudia Benack, Assistant Professor of musical theatre at Carnegie Mellon University, said that Evancho "has an unusually adult feel for the repertoire. ... She sings to the important part of the phrase, and then backs off. That's instinctual. ... She takes breaths sometimes where an adult would not, but that's just because she's young and little". Benack noted: "She sings from the healthy part of her voice." Doctor Clark Rosen, director of the University of Pittsburgh Voice Center, agreed, commenting that Evancho's talent is made possible by how her brain coordinates her body for singing: "Very few people are gifted enough to have that naturally, or with subsequent learning, to create a voice we'd love to hear."

After Evancho's performance of "Ave Maria", America's Got Talent judge Piers Morgan enthused: "I have never seen an act, on this show or the British show or any of the other talent shows in the world, with more potential than Jackie Evancho. That was perfection. Perfection!" One critic noted "the slightly awkward hand and arm movements that endear her to listeners, and which turned into forceful pulls to her sides at moments of high drama." Evancho appeared on the National League of Junior Cotillions' list of "Ten Best-Mannered People of 2011" for "demonstrating humility and politeness as a young performer." She is being honored in April 2012 by The Senator John Heinz History Center at its 20th Annual History Makers Award Dinner as one of five "distinguished Pittsburghers [who] will be recognized for their exceptional contributions to the history of Western Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world". The Kean Quest Talent Search, since 2011, has given an annual "Jackie Evancho Award" to a contestant who "exemplifies courage and motivation and pushes through to follow their dreams."

The Los Angeles Times commented in June 2011, reviewing Dream With Me, that "her voice has matured quite a lot over the past 10 months. The darkness sounds less forced, her low register is much stronger and the voice has a bit more heft". The paper continued, "what makes us feel like she will survive the journey from child star to adult performer is her magnificent sense of pitch, her natural ability to shape phrases and the ease with which she performs. This is what makes her a joy to listen to. Since she's still a kid, and we all have affectations when we're learning, we'll pretend we didn't notice the Brightman arms." In reviewing her 2011 Pittsburg Opera concert, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called her voice "beautifully in tune and well supported. ... Evancho's sincerity of delivery was affecting". A reviewer from The New York Times wrote of her 2011 Avery Fisher Hall concert that, in her first half dozen numbers, she "often receded, but toward the end of the night she found purpose, delivering 'A Time for Us' with punch, and closing out ... 'Angel' with what felt like real yearning." The Wall Street Journal called Evancho's 2011 performance of the song "Angel" on the Tonight Show "moving".

Discography

Further information: Jackie Evancho discography

Year	Title	Notes
2009	Prelude to a Dream	Independent album
2010	O Holy Night	EP
2011	Dream with Me	Studio album
	Dream with Me in Concert	CD/DVD, Blu-ray, and DVD-only version
	Heavenly Christmas	Studio album

Billboard ranked Evancho the #1 Classical Albums Artist of 2011, as Evancho released three of the top four albums on the Billboard 2011 year-end Classical Albums Chart. Billboard also ranked Evancho as the #10 Billboard 200 Artist of 2011 and the #3 Internet Albums Artist. It ranked O Holy Night as the #15 best-selling album of 2011 and Dream With Me as the #45 album of 2011. O Holy Night also ranked as the #31 Canadian Album of 2011. Billboard ranked Dream With Me In Concert the #21 music video album of the year.

External links

• Official website
• Jackie Evancho at IMDb
• Jackie Evancho at Classical Crossover UK
• Super Humans: Wonder Girl Jackie Evancho ABC 20/20 report on Evancho, July 22, 2011
• Photos of Evancho
• Jackie Evancho Christmas videos
• October 2009 interview of Evancho with The Expressionist Magazine