Andrea Bocelli will finally fulfil his father's lifelong dream when he performs a special free concert in Central Park this September.
The blind singer will team up with the New York Philharmonic to treat 60,000 fans to a free show on the park's Great Lawn, while a host of star guests are also expected to join Bocelli onstage.
The occasion will mark the first time a tenor has performed at the Manhattan landmark since the late Luciano Pavarotti in 1993, and Bocelli admits it will be a particularly emotional event.
He said: "I cannot help but smile when thinking about a concert in Central Park. It was my father's dream, and my father was right, because my artistic path would have been entirely different without the strong and sincere embrace of this extraordinary city where everything is possible, even when it seems impossible."
"My father will not be there, but I can count on his blessing and his kind and gentle smile to give me courage. My mother, sitting in the front row, will feel my father too, and they will be together again just like when I was a little boy performing on the fireplace steps."
"Perhaps they had secretly dreamed that I might have the opportunity to perform in New York City, and maybe right here in Central Park."
The concert will take place on September 15th.
Bocelli's performance will also be filmed for a DVD release in November.
The 52-year-old singer is the biggest-selling solo artist in the history of classical music. He was born with partial sight but was completely blinded at the age of twelve in a football accident.
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