When Laura Bretan took the stage on America’s Got Talent, she seemed calm, demure, and much younger than the voice she was about to unleash. When the 13-year-old Romanian-American soprano from Chicago went to audition, the majority of the audience had no idea that they would see one of the season’s most memorable opera performances.
Then she began to sing.
From the first note, the tone drastically changed. Laura’s voice was soaring, pure, and beautifully controlled that it filled the theater with the kind of operatic strength that usually takes years and years to achieve. The judges’ expressions abruptly shifted from interest to shock, and the audience fell silent as they were completely absorbed in the performance.
The experience was particularly striking because of the contrast between the young girl standing there so serenely and then abruptly sounded like a world-class classical performer. It was technically amazing, but it also seemed emotional, intellectual, and much beyond her years. That audition helped Laura, who had already won Romania’s Got Talent in 2016, place sixth on AGT Season 11.
