Jacqueline Marie Evancho (/iːˈvæŋkoʊ/ ee-VANG-koh;[1] born April 9, 2000) is an American singer who gained wide recognition at an early age, singing primarily classical crossover covers.

Between 2008 and 2010, Evancho entered talent competitions, sang the US national anthem at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, issued her first album, Prelude to a Dream, and attracted interest on YouTube.

[24] She was selected for the regional semifinals of his "Hitman Talent Search Contest",[25] finishing as runner-up,[41][42] and in October 2009 she sang in the "David Foster & Friends" concert at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

[47][2] After two earlier unsuccessful auditions for the show,[20][36][48] Evancho was accepted as a contestant on the fifth season of NBC's America's Got Talent (AGT) by placing first in its 2010 YouTube competition.

[95] Allmusic gave the album 3-1/2 stars out of five,[96] and USA Today commented that Evancho's "sweet, unblemished vocal tone and slow, careful vibrato hardly betray her young age.

[132] Christopher John Farley of The Wall Street Journal wrote that Evancho "sounds like she's channeling a past life, a future self, or possibly an actual angel.

[141] The album is composed of songs used in popular films, arranged by Bill Ross, including the whimsical ("Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory), Disney songs ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King and "I See the Light" from Tangled), anthems ("My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, featuring Joshua Bell, violin) and romantic standards ("Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific).

[163] Evancho released songs from the album including covers of "The Rains of Castamere" from Game of Thrones,[164][165] "Think of Me" from The Phantom of the Opera,[166] Ennio Morricone's "Your Love"[167] and the Vavilov version of "Ave Maria".

[168][169] Evancho promoted the album in a return to America's Got Talent as a guest artist at Radio City Music Hall during the show's ninth season.

[181] Markos Papadatos of Digital Journal gave Evancho's album an A rating, calling it "stunning from start to finish thanks to her warm classical vocals."

[222][223] In 2020 Evancho began recording an album of covers of Joni Mitchell songs, produced by Fred Mollin,[224] at Sound Stage Studio in Nashville.

[232] Jill O'Rourke, reviewing the album for TalentRecap.com, wrote: "Evancho brings a signature ethereal quality to Mitchell’s music, as well as a clear emotional connection with the lyrics.

[151][281] In early 2014, Evancho was the performer for Susan G. Komen's Perfect Pink Party in Palm Beach, Florida, to benefit breast cancer research.

[282][283] She then headlined a concert with the San Bernardino Symphony Orchestra at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California, to benefit the Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.

[284] She appeared in the 2014 gala to benefit Chicago's WTTW television and WFMT radio stations[285][286] and in the 2014 National Memorial Day Concert, broadcast by PBS.

[295] In September, Evancho participated in another benefit, with Foster and Bocelli in Forte dei Marmi, Italy, for the Celebrity Fight Night Foundation.

[298] In December, she sang the US national anthem at the Pittsburgh Steelers game against the Indianapolis Colts[299] and released the first single on her own JE Touring label, a cover of Taylor Swift's "Safe & Sound",[300] together with a video.

[301] In January 2016, Evancho appeared at the Mending Broken Hearts With Hope luncheon to benefit The Shelter for Abused Women & Children in Naples, Florida.

[307] Evancho entertained at the 2016 Project Sunshine benefit gala[308] and returned to Washington, DC, to participate in the 2016 broadcast and live performance of A Capitol Fourth.

[309] In September, Evancho sang at the David Foster Foundation's 2016 fundraiser at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to help pay for pediatric organ transplants and support patients' families.

[321] In 2019, she presented a concert at the August Wilson Center in Pittsburgh to benefit The Brave Heart Foundation, which supports homeless LGBTQ young adults.

[334] She made a guest appearance in the 2011 episode "Back to Max", in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place, where her character sang "America the Beautiful" to work off school detention.

"[47] Jia Tolentino of The New Yorker later called Evancho's YouTube audition for AGT "supernaturally blissful", and commented that she delivered "O mio babbino caro" with "graceful phrasing, a controlled, slow vibrato, and a tone that resonates impersonally, like a bell".

[348] Nekesa Mumbi Moody, writing for Associated Press, 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".

[354] A San Francisco Chronicle review of a 2012 concert judged her singing "an impressive thing to witness, and Evancho's technical precision and enormous range only serve to make it seem less fluky", but felt that "every selection sounded alike".

"[167] in 2015, the reviewer for Digital Journal wrote: "The control she displays over her voice is tremendous, and she tackles the high notes ... effortlessly, showcasing her angelic vocals and piercing pipes.

It peals with the purity of bells and lofts tones that shimmer with celestial iridescence" but that her performance lacks "an apparent interpretive style or emotional connection to the material".

[228] For NBC Insider in 2024, Jackie Manno praised a January 2024 performance by Evancho of her single "Behind My Eyes" on Good Morning America, writing that it featured "her prettiest vocals yet".

[365] 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".

[369] 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".