Liriel Domiciano
Liriel Domiciano is a Brazilian soprano pop star and classical singer.
Born November 25, 1981, as Raquel Domiciano Pereira in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she has three sisters, Patricia, Priscilla, and Danielle. Because the family could not afford formal singing lessons for Liriel, she listened to classical music and was singing arias at the age of five.
Her sister Patricia introduced the family to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liriel joined the Church when she was 14 years old. She began singing with the Voices of Zion with her sister Priscilla and sang with that group for three years.
Liriel's mother had been introduced to the Church when Liriel was young. Her mother’s friend worked in their home and sang Primary songs. She promised Liriel’s mother that if she prayed with real intent, she would know that the Church was true. Liriel’s mother prayed and received a dream in which she saw herself in the Salt Lake Temple and the Savior invited her be with Him and told her she was worthy. Liriel said if her mother had told her about that dream, she would have joined the Church much earlier.
At age 19, Liriel applied for a seamstress job at a bridal fair, but when she heard another girl audition to be a wedding singer, she auditioned instead, with a Puccini aria. She immediately received job offers, and within a short time she was competing on television. After eight months of competition, she and fellow contestant Rinaldo Viana won the Raul Gil Amateur Show, which is similar to American Idol in the U.S. Their first CD, “Romance,” climbed to the second-highest classical best seller in Brazilian history.
Although she produced two more best-selling CDs, she did not sign with Brazil’s biggest talent agency when approached in 2004 because of her personal commitment to sing for The Church of Jesus Christ. On April 4, 2004, she sang with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on its weekly Sunday broadcast. She then became the second soloist to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in General Conference (the first was in 1932), when she sang during the Sunday morning session. She was invited to sing in General Conference by Church president Gordon B. Hinckley, who had heard her sing when he presided at the rededication of the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple.
Craig Jessop, who was then director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, said that Liriel “has one of those rare God-given gifts. What she has, you can’t teach. You can expand and develop, but you can’t teach. When you understand her humble background, you understand even more what a gift it is.”[1]
After General Conference, Liriel toured through Utah, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Miami. She sang in “A Celebration of Life,” President Hinckley’s 95th birthday concert held on July 22, 2005. She traveled to Europe in 2005, and her trip was the inspiration for her CD “Heaven’s Eyes,” which appeared in 2006. She was featured on “Believe in Love: Songs of Hope" and “Inspiration,” a 2007 collection of artists by Jerry Williams and produced by Deseret Book.
Liriel has expressed her dream to found a school where young people can pursue musical studies free of charge.
