Fort Myers girl, 12, prepares to sing at Carnegie Hall

FORT MYERS, Fla.- Abby Fletcher is only 12 years old, but she’s prepared to take the stage, solo, at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City this Saturday.

Her mom, Diana Fletcher, says it started three years ago, after Abby auditioned for Christmas church play, and they asked her to sing.

“They said, ‘you need to get her into some vocal lessons,’ and so we did. From there, she had a retired Italian opera singer teacher,” said Diana Fletcher.

Abby says now, she learns the words in Italian to each song by going over it, again and again.

“We print out the sheet music. Then we look at each word and we pronounce it correctly,” said Abby.

The seventh grader at North Fort Myers Academy of the Arts says she’s ready for Carnegie, but is still pinching herself.

“During the summer, my mom entered me into a international vocal competition and I got first place for my age division, so then they emailed us and they’re like, ‘you’re singing at Carnegie Hall,’ and I was like ‘what?!'” said Abby.

Abby says she’s excited but nervous for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“It hasn’t really sunken in yet, and I’m like, okay, so I’m singing there, but I don’t know what to expect, because I’ve never performed anywhere out of state or that big,” said Abby.

After performing at Carnegie Hall on Dec. 19, Abby will perform in Southwest Florida at Night Under the Stars on January 30.