BY MELISSA RUGGIERI/AJC Music Scene
Jackie Evancho, the teenage classical crossover vocalist who emerged on the 2010 season of 'America's Got Talent," will sing the national anthem at the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
The Pittsburgh native, now 16, disclosed the news on the “Today” show Wednesday morning.
"It's a little nerve-wracking, but I'm honored. I get to perform for the office. I'm very excited," she said on the show.
This won’t be Evancho’s first experience performing at a high-profile political event.
In 2010, she sang “O Holy Night” for President Obama at the National Tree Lighting ceremony and two years later, she and her mother were greeted by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast, where she sang, “To Believe.”
She met Trump at his Mar-A-Lago resort shortly after her breakthrough season on “Talent.”
While Evancho – who performed at Atlanta Symphony Hall last year and with Tony Bennett in Alpharetta in 2013 – gained attention for her lovely soprano voice applied to classical songs, she's recently stretched into the pop realm. She plans to release a collection of pop songs in 2017 and, earlier this year, released the radio-friendly single, "Apocalypse."
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