She’s called “The Queen of Opera,” and with her stunning, rounded tone and ability to effortlessly move between classical repertoire and modern compositions, D’Andrea Pelletier is making her mark. “Music has always been in my family, in my life, and in my blood. I actually started not as a vocalist, but as a violinist when I was 10.” The violin introduced classical music into D’Andrea’s life, but one special aria took it a step further. “I heard this song when I was 11—I found out later it was ‘O Mio Babbino Caro.’ We played an instrumental version, but something kept telling me it needed to be sung… From there, the rest is history.”
D’Andrea joined choirs and sought out “really anything I could get into” to pursue her passion for singing. “By the time I was 15, I met my first opera singer in real life and got to hear her up close. And I went, ‘Wow!’ I knew what it was like to be in a choir blended with beautiful voices, but to have this one single voice take over the whole room was something entirely new. I just knew that was my calling—I couldn’t stop from there. I absorbed it and went on to college, trained classically to be a vocalist, and there really was no deviation since being a teenager knowing that’s what I wanted to do.”
D’Andrea feels incredibly blessed to have found her calling at such a young age. “I just felt like I didn’t have a choice. Once you know something, you have to act on it. That was one of those things—you just have to do it.”
As a soprano, D’Andrea’s unique fach (an opera term that helps determine roles based on the size and character of the voice) leans more towards the lyric side. “When I sing—even if it’s more on the dramatic side—it still sounds light, even if there’s strength behind it. That’s how I would define my voice. But at the same time, especially because we have the opportunity these days to record music and not just perform live, it opened up an entirely new way for me to sing. I was able to do things like ‘Cum Dederit’ by Vivaldi, which I couldn’t have necessarily done live because it’s in a lower range for me. So I would consider my voice type varying depending on the repertoire I do. When it’s recorded, I can do a lot more things that I can’t do live where you have to project a certain way. It really just depends on the set and setting. If you were to hear me sing live, I’d say for instance, I was Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, and that was right up my alley. It was something I could do very easily, although still a pretty challenging role. But because it was in the higher range… I was able to execute it after a lot of practice, of course. So definitely in the higher range when I sing live. But anything I record, I don’t just stick to traditional soprano. I like to change it up and take even countertenor pieces and make them my own.”
Many of D’Andrea’s singles feature another technique not possible live—vocal layering, where she harmonizes with herself. “I actually really love doing that. As a matter of fact, that’s one of my favorite things to do when I record pieces—I don’t need just that single-line voice. I can open it up, play with it, and bring more of an emotional experience to the recording. You can paint the picture a little more when it’s recorded. So I think it’s so cool that we can do that in this day and age and just add more to the experience.”
Creating unique experiences is part of the reason that, despite her love for the music, D’Andrea has not taken the traditional opera path. After studying music at the University of Central Florida, she realized, “I don’t want to necessarily go the traditional route of going right into opera houses. I’ve always been an entrepreneur, and I wanted to run my own show… I knew I wanted to create a business, not just as a sole proprietor, but to run a company, to run the whole show.”
D’Andrea used her experience in real estate to make this dream a reality. “I realized I could actually apply this to music, all the while still practicing all the time, doing shows every weekend, as the ‘opera realtor.’” The pandemic caused D’Andrea, in her own words, to “pivot,” moving from live performances to focus more on creating her brand and recording music. “I realized then that I was able to reach a more international audience.” Her music resonated with listeners from Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. “That’s how the Queen of Opera expanded—because we decided to go into recording the music. From there, I met a lot of amazing people on social media, and we started to collaborate.”
In 2023, D’Andrea was featured on “XO,” an album with composer Simeon Lumgair. “We both came together, doing everything from French to Russian. There was a Spanish version of the song, English, and it was all original, classical, very cinematic-esque—not necessarily the traditional classical that you would expect to hear… We were able to mix his compositions with my voice and create something really special.”
“XO” was also the first time D’Andrea experimented with composition. “It was very much a feeding off of each other, artistically, and saying, ‘Okay, so what can we do next?’… It went so quickly and so fluidly—I never imagined we would create and release an album so quickly. But because it was all this creative energy that clearly needed to come out in lots of different ways, we were able to feed off of each other in such a fast-paced way that, at the end of the album, we were both like, ‘Wow, that was not only fun, it was so much fun.’”
D’Andrea has continued to release more music, varying from operatic arias to popular and original songs. “When I’m really inspired to do something, it happens very quickly… As far as strategy goes, I think the criteria is always being inspired. But I’ll do a popular piece, and then I’ll do a traditional classical piece because I really do enjoy doing both.”
Listeners are drawn to the Queen of Opera’s music not necessarily because of loyalty to the genre, but because of the passion and beauty of her voice. “That’s probably what I hear most from people—‘I didn’t even think I liked opera, and then I heard you sing.’ That’s the highest compliment I can get. They hear, for instance, a classical cover of something they wouldn’t normally expect, and because they like my voice, they then go and listen to other things. I can’t tell you how many people have said, ‘Oh my gosh, I want to hear you sing this but classically,’ and so I’ll do that… As a result, they start to listen to other things, and they start to hear other opera singers and go to the opera, which is the most I can ask anybody to do. So, basically, it’s about putting it out in ways you wouldn’t necessarily expect from opera singers—not fitting into one box or one audience.”
D’Andrea believes deeply in going into the depth of the character in each performance. “Anytime I start to learn a piece, especially if it’s one I’m not entirely familiar with—even pieces I know well—I try to wipe all preconceived notions and really understand emotionally why it was written, and what compelled the character to sing it. Understanding the composer’s perspective is also key. I often learn more about the composer and what they were going through during the time they wrote a particular piece. It’s amazing how much you can discover about a composer’s personal experiences and how they may have created a story around them. I ask myself, ‘What kind of questions would I be asking if I were this character? Where would my frame of mind be?’ … Understanding the culture, the personal story—everything matters. No matter the opera or piece, even if it’s a pop song, we can all relate to basic human emotions like love, joy, or betrayal. But it’s about making it specific, embodying whatever that character is going through, not just standing there and singing. In classical music, we’re sometimes conditioned to be rigid, especially in school where the focus is on vocal technique. But once you have the basics down, it’s important to dive into the emotion, to express it in your voice, your face—not just your voice. I approach each character uniquely, with attention to whatever situation they’re dealing with.”
D’Andrea’s latest single is “Je Crois Entendre Encore,” written by Bizet for the Pearl Fishers opera. She first heard it in the movie The Man Who Cried and felt a deep connection to it, despite it being a famed tenor aria. “The range wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I never let that stop me. If I’m inspired emotionally, I’ll put everything else around that and make it the center point… I can’t necessarily sing the whole role, but I can take that one aria and embody it. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s about a pearl fisher who’s nostalgically remembering a woman he was in love with, and how it was her sweet voice that kept him going… He’s very in love and very nostalgic for this woman. I just thought it was so beautiful.”
D’Andrea also shared plans for the release of “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak. Fans should keep an eye out for this new recording coming soon and stay tuned for more music and special projects from the Queen of Opera.
Stream Queen of Opera on Spotify
