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The 'Singing Monk' Brings His Amazing Voice To Oakland

OAKLAND (CBS) – A Franciscan priest from Assisi in Italy awed the crowd at an East Bay church on Saturday. He did it without delivering a sermon.

Thirty-five-year-old Alessandro Brustenghi is known as the singing monk. He doesn't like to use a microphone -- and when audiences hear his enormous voice, they describe it as 'divine,' even 'ethereal.'

Brustenghi has signed recording contract has even become a YouTube sensation. The tenor's Bay Area performance at The Cathedral of Christ the Light church near Oakland's Lake Merritt was part of his U.S.A tour. His next stops include New York City and Washington D.C.

When asked how he likes America, he told KPIX reporter Patrick Sedillo, "it's wonderful, just like the movies."

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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