This post was written by Hatchet reporter Scott Figatner.

Italian tenor, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Bocelli preformed at the Verizon Center Friday night, with guest performances by Grammy award-winning soprano Ana Maria Martinez and Tony award winner Heather Headley.

Bocelli paired his musical stylings with Martinez’s operatic and Headley’s R&B sound.

Blind since adolescence, Bocelli relied on touch to show a connection with the singers, often holding hands with them.

Often regarded as a crossover artist between classical and popular music, Bocelli was made a Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2006. In 2010, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Crowd favorites at Friday’s show included Bocelli’s performance of “Ave Maria,” which he sang with his well-known, steady vibrato. When he was not singing, Bocelli melodized out of a golden flute, which maintained a similar tone and control. Bocelli also performed his best-selling single “Con Te Partirò,” which he first sang in 1995.

The crowd was silent during Bocelli’s “Amazing Grace” solo, with the orchestra sustaining a solitary note. All was still except for Bocelli’s eyebrows, which fluttered up and down with his phrasing.

He may not have been able to see the standing ovation, but must have heard the adoring applause as he finished singing the final words of the song: “I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now, I see.”