Elinore Forman & Akofa Deh (286)

If you haven’t heard yet, Lucas Beltran, a member of the 283rd graduating class, is currently competing on The Voice — a singing competition show where contestants are placed into four different teams led by celebrity coaches. In his blind audition, which aired September 23rd, Lucas sang “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” by Lou Rawls. The coaches enjoyed his performance, especially Snoop Dogg and Michael Bublé, who were singing along. The coaches were impressed with how young he is relative to his skill, and Lucas picked Michael Bublé to be his coach.

Lucas has been singing his whole life, but over the pandemic, when there was a lot of free time, he started to become more interested in singing as a career. Inspired by greats like Ella Fitzgerland, Frank Sinatra, and Stevie Wonder, he typically sings music from the genres of jazz and soul. Reba McEntire, one of the other coaches to invite Lucas to her team, said, “Nobody’s come on the show yet sounding like you.”

During his time at Central, Lucas described some of his most influential teachers to be Ms. Gruzwalski-Kulp (or Ms. G), Central’s choir director; Mr. Franchetti, the band director; Mr. Blazer, the orchestra director and Music Theory teacher; and Mr. Burns, the theater teacher. As Ms. G and Lucas both remembered, he was always late to choir but was a very talented and passionate member. One time during a Mixed Choir rehearsal, Ms. G heard a commotion in the bass section and looked over to see Lucas and the other basses passing around a broken clock they had found. When she asked what they were doing, they said they were “passing time.” 

Some of Lucas’ favorite performance memories from Central were singing with the jazz band directed by Mr. Franchetti. A highlight was performing the song “Practice,” a parody of Alan Iverson’s famous rant. These were some of the first times he got to sing with a full band. After working with him on a recording session, Mr. Franchetti felt that Lucas “always wanted to do what he’s doing right now,” and he has the kind of “aura” of a performer. Even though Mr. Franchetti says he doesn’t understand how The Voice works, we know he’s rooting for Lucas!

Mr. Blazer and Mr. Burns’ classes were both influential in getting Lucas to where he is today as a performer and musician. Mr. Blazer’s Music Theory class gave him the knowledge he needed to communicate with other musicians, and Mr. Burns’ theater class changed the way he feels on stage. The skills of having to perform on stage and be able to improvise increased his confidence on stage. 

As of now, Lucas is working on expanding his platform as much as possible (you can find him on Instagram and YouTube @officiallybeltran) which is the main reason he went on The Voice. The process to be on the show has been going on for the past year, but since graduating, Lucas has also been going back and forth between Philadelphia and New York to build connections before he finally moves to New York. He’s also currently working on a Holiday album, so be sure to look out for that!From his days at Central, joking around in choir and performing with the jazz band to his audition on The Voice, Lucas Beltran has always been a talented musician. We’re excited to see what happens next on The Voice and beyond, and know the Central community will be cheering him on!