Bárbara Padilla (; born December 9, 1973) is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

operatic soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

. She was the runner-up on the fourth season of ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''. She is well known as a survivor of

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

Personal life

Bárbara Padilla was born in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

where she studied music, acting, and dance.

Health

During her undergraduate studies, Padilla was diagnosed with

Hodgkin lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

and underwent several rounds of

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and radiation. During this time, Padilla was told that she might never be able to sing again because the radiation could harm her vocal cords. After traveling to

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

for a consultation with doctors, Padilla had the chance to audition for the

Moores School of Music The Rebecca and John J. Moores School of Music is the music school of the University of Houston. The Moores School offers the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Arts in Music, Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in music performance, ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. She was awarded a full scholarship where she completed the master's degree program, all while battling cancer. Padilla is in remission, living in New York with her husband.

Accomplishments

Padilla's accomplishments while at UH include first-place winner in NATS competition in 2001 in the advanced adults category and participated in the summer program IIVArts held in Chiari, Italy. She was invited to sing the American and Mexican National Anthems for the sold-out, historic soccer game at

Reliant Stadium NRG Stadium (previously known as Reliant Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was the first NFL facility to h ...

. She also performed as a soloist of many symphonic events, including oratorio and concerts in USA, Italy and Mexico. Her repertoire includes operas like ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

'', ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'', ''

Madame Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story " Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Lut ...

'', and '' La traviata''. She released her first CD in 2014.

''America's Got Talent''

Overview

Padilla auditioned on ''America's Got Talent'', singing " O Mio Babbino Caro". She then advanced to the Vegas Verdicts, where she then moved on to the Top 48. During the quarterfinals, she sang " Time to Say Goodbye" by

Andrea Bocelli Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor. He rose to fame in 1994 after winning the newcomers' section of the 44th Sanremo Music Festival performing " Il mare calmo della sera". Since 1994, Bocelli has recorded 15 solo st ...

, with the judges stating she's the leader of the night. She then advanced to the semifinals, singing "

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

". One of the judges claimed it was the best vocal performance in the history of the show, and she was clearly one of the favorites. During the finals, she sang the same song from her audition. She finished as runner-up, losing to country singer

Kevin Skinner Patrick Kevin Skinner (born February 25, 1974) is an American country music singer from the Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky. He is the winner of the fourth season of ''America's Got Talent''. Early life and career Skinner is from the D ...

Performances/Results

Career

After finishing as the runner up, Barbara performed in the ''America's Got Talent Live'' concert. Her self-titled debut album was released in late 2014.

References

External links

Barbara Padilla website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Barbara 1973 births Living people America's Got Talent contestants American operatic sopranos Mexican operatic sopranos Singers from Guadalajara, Jalisco Hispanic and Latino American musicians American musicians of Mexican descent University of Houston alumni Mexican emigrants to the United States 21st-century American women opera singers 21st-century American opera singers 21st-century Mexican women opera singers Hispanic and Latino American women singers