Donald Braswell

Donald Braswell, is a trained Operatic Tenor who also sings pop and other genre of music while embarking on a New Chapter of his musical career. Mr. Braswell is from the great state of Texas, presently residing in the San Antonio area. He placed fourth on the third season show of America's Got Talent, being the first act to ever turn an audience around from hostile to acceptance in his audition. He sang Josh Groban's You Raised Me Up with the audience shouting for him to get off the stage until the second refrain of the song. Donald stood his ground singing from his heart and finally on that second refrain, the audience took notice of this man's beautiful voice and they started to stand and chant Vegas to show their support for him to advance to the next round of competition. Mr. Braswell was eliminated in the Las Vegas audition round but was then brought back to the show on a WILDCARD vote after the Russian Bar Trio had an injury and withdrew. He continued to advance in the show until the top 5 were picked and performed for the final spots in the competition where he placed 4th. [1]

Donald Braswell was born in Texas to parents in the performing arts field and has been singing since he was seven years old but really wanted to be an actor. When he was in high school, he participated in theater groups at night and did not tell anyone. However, when he graduated from high school, he was awarded a scholarship at the Juilliard School in New York City and began training as an operatic tenor. After Julliard, Donald received a grant from The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation that allowed him to further train with Italian tenor Franco Corelli and the Artistic Director of the Lyric Orchestra in Florida, Franco Bertacci. Donald has traveled and performed all over the world, including performances with the Opera Orchestra of New York and in the Spoleto Festival in Italy. [1]

In 1995 Donald Braswell was appearing with the Welsh National Opera. During this time he was cycling through Wales and was struck by a car and sustained severe injuries, some of which were to the soft tissue of his thrioat and vocal chords. The doctors advised him that he may never be able to speak normally and would probably not be able to sing again. Donald decided not to accept this prognosis and spent the next few years working to regain his voice. With a lot of determination and hard work, he regained his singing voice and has returned to the performing stage. [1]

After the accident and his recovery, Donald first performed around San Antonio, TX at local events and then with the help of friends, he made a CD called New Chapter which includes Pop, Operatic arrangements from classical selections and songs from Musical Theatre. This CD was produced by Michael and Ron Morales and co-produced by Mark Martin with musical arragnements by Brian Duncan. The CD was and still is available at CD Baby and Amazon. [2]

After finishing fourth on the 2008 America's Got Talent, Donald Braswell performed in various concert venues across the United States, some of which are listed below:

Donald then went across country to perform at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, NC doing a show with singer Kat Williams.

Donald continues to perform at shows in Texas and elsewhere and has chosen to give back to the public with many charity concerts.

1. http://donaldbraswellfanclub.org/

2. http://www.myspace.com/donaldbraswellmusic