Rising opera singer wows passersby while singing his heart out in Rittenhouse Square

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- With sirens, construction, and seemingly non-stop horn-honking, the noise of Philadelphia can drown out just about any other sounds.

However, one voice pierces through the racket at the entrance of Rittenhouse Square Park.

It's the sound of the opera, sung with a melodic voice that reverberates across the streets and bounces off the buildings. That voice belongs to Tyree Kadle.

"I'm here Tuesdays and Thursdays usually around 4 p.m.," said Kadle as he stood at the corner of 18th and Walnut streets.

He wore a green t-shirt and dust-colored slacks with a pair of black sneakers as he sang his heart out to those passing by.

"He's incredibly talented," said one passerby as she removed her headphones to hear more of Kadle's tenor voice.

He's been singing at the corner of 18th and Walnut streets for three months. Kadle says he's turning the corner into an unexpected opera house.

"Oh my gosh, to see a Black man singing opera on such a level and Rittenhouse Square," commented Rick White of Graduate Hospital. "It's refreshing. It's affirming!"

Kadle's voice often stops traffic.

"I get a lot of the double take," he said with a big smile.

It seems passersby are just as surprised to see him singing in the city as he is to have become an opera singer.

"I didn't always know I could sing. I mean I always loved to sing but I didn't always know I always could sing," said the 31-year-old.

Kadle was 18 when a friend asked him to join her in 'Legally Blonde: The Musical.' He agreed to do the show, thinking perhaps he'd become a pop or R&B singer, but then the opera bug hit.

"There was some moment on stage when I was singing with the whole orchestra and singing my heart and having the whole moment," he said. "I was like 'This is it!'"

Kadle, a native of Collegeville, attended performing arts schools in New York and Boston.

He returned home a few months ago and now lives in South Philadelphia. Singing for tips in Rittenhouse Square helps him to carve out a living doing what he loves.

"I sing in a lot of groups for volunteer. I'm in a barbershop chorus, I'm in the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus, I work as a personal trainer," he said, adding that he specializes in training singers who want to leverage their bodies and breath in order to deliver great performances.

"I have a day job, but this is what I really love to do," he said of singing.

Though he sings for tips, he wouldn't identify himself as a starving artist.

"I wouldn't quite say starving, just a little hungry," he said with a laugh.

Kadle has learned to sing in more than half a dozen languages.

"I've learned to sing in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Russian," he said.

His dream is to travel the world.

"My hope is singing at The Met stage in New York or (Teatro) alla Scala in Italy, or Paris."

For now, the city is his stage.

"Something about Rittenhouse Square just speaks to me," he said.

Next time you're in Rittenhouse Square, listen for the voice rising above the noise of the city. It'll lead you to the most unexpected show on the streets of Philadelphia.