Jackie Evancho to headline Festa Italiana

15 year old singing sensation, Jackie Evancho first dazzled American television audiences at age 10 gaining global recognition with her stunning debut on NBC’s America’s Got Talent. Named runner-up, she was immediately signed by Columbia Records and has established herself as a force within the classical crossover genre. Her unique, gorgeous, soprano voice has won her millions of fans all over the world.

Currently, Jackie is getting ready to release her 4th studio album later this year. Her current single and video, “Writings On The Wall”, a Sam Smith cover debuted last month.

Evancho has released a string of successful recordings including “O Holy Night”, “Dream With Me”, “Heavenly Christmas” and a rendition of “Safe and Sound” from The Hunger Games. Her rendition of “When you Wish upon a Star” is a YouTube highlight. In 2014 she released her third full studio album, “Awakening”, which entered the Billboard Classical Chart at number one and ended 2015 at the number three spot on Billboard’s Year End Classical Chart. That same year, Evancho earned the number five spot on Billboard’s Classical Album Artists Chart.

Evancho has participated in the lighting of the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C., where she delighted President and Mrs. Obama, performed before 100,000 people in Russia with opera stars Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sumi Jo prior to the opening of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, performed in Japan before the Royal Family at the Imperial Palace and performed for the Pope during his last U.S. visit in 2015. She performed the classic film song “Over the Rainbow” at the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony and performed as a special guest in Cirque du Soleil’s “One Night for One Drop” benefit at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2013.

Her first PBS special was one of the top pledge producing performances in PBS history. Billboard Magazine named Evancho to their list of music movers-and-shakers under the age of 21 in 2011 and again in 2012 because her “spellbinding, operatic vocals possess a power and poignancy that often moves listeners multiple times her age to tears”. Other achievements include acting in Robert Redford’s 'The Company You Keep' alongside Susan Sarandon, Shia LeBeouf and Nick Nolte and starring in the Fall 2012 GUESS Kids clothing campaign.

Festa Italiana is the largest Italian event of its kind in America today. The Festival began in 1978 for the purpose of reuniting an Italian community torn apart by urban renewal projects and was the first ethnic festival in Milwaukee. Today, several ethic festivals are celebrated on Milwaukee’s lakefront and the city is now widely known as the City of Festivals. Through the dedication of more than 2,000 volunteers, the annual Festa Italiana has become a favorite family event to Milwaukee and surrounding areas.