Wagga vocal teacher steals the show with a stunning performance on The Voice

Wagga musician Larissa Burak took centre stage on Channel 7’s The Voice Australia this week, stunning the crowd into silence with a haunting performance of Ave Maria.

The Ukrainian-born performer and teacher at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music accompanied herself on a traditional bandura.

Her superb operatic performance and the unique stringed instrument perplexed the judges during the blind audition, prompting Adam Lambert and a tearful LeAnne Rimes to turn their chairs.

“That gave me goosebumps everywhere, all over my body. I had chills,” said Lambert.

“Not only was the intro and your accompaniment beautiful, but your voice, there’s so many vibrations and layers to the sound you were making, and you were so still, and that to me is spiritual.”

Larissa said she started singing “before I start talking” and explained the story behind the complex 65-stringed instrument she played.

“It’s like a soul of Ukrainian nation, and sometimes I compare that with didgeridoo. It’s a sacred instrument,” she said.

“When the Russian Empire tried to destroy the country, musicians who played this instrument were prosecuted. The instruments were destroyed.

“They’re trying to possess and rule Ukraine, as they’re trying to do it now.”

The bandura looks like a cross between a lute and a harp and Larissa joked that it was a lot of work to maintain.

“It’s quite heavy and big. It’s got 65 strings, which I have to tune every single day, and it’s still not perfect,” she said.

“I’m doing something very unusual, very unknown.”

The unique performance clearly resonated and LeAnne Rimes agreed with Adam Lambert that it was a “spiritual experience”.

While Australian judge Kate Miller-Heidke did not turn her chair, she was clearly impressed.

“I think that was absolutely gorgeous, and it was so haunting and soulful, I could feel the grief that underpinned your delivery of that song,” she said, asking whether Larissa still had family in Ukraine.

“Yes, I do have family and the young people [are] dying and innocent people [are] dying,” she replied.

“Brave and young, full of energy, people who can use this energy for something creative and something better.”

Larissa also thanked her adopted home of Australia for supporting Ukraine in the ongoing fight against the Russian invasion.

“What you just did on this show was just show the human side of culture through music,” said Guy Sebastian.

“That’s the most powerful thing to do, just to remind people that we’re all human, we all bleed, we all feel pain, we all feel love and I think what you did was even probably more powerful than you realised because you just reminded people of the humanity that’s involved in any conflict.

“I’m so glad you’ve shared your gift. It was really beautiful.”

With two judges to choose from, Larrisa joined team LeAnne Rimes and will return to the show once the blind auditions are completed.

“Congratulations Larissa, you were amazing,” the Riverina Conservatorium of Music posted on its Facebook account.

“We are very proud of you! On team LeAnn and can’t wait to see you perform again soon!”

You can keep track of Larissa’s journey on Channel 7’s The Voice Australia.