Forget the Viking horns; the long, blonde braids; and the ear-splitting high notes of “Figaro” – junior biology and music major Anna Wallis is all about singing opera, without any of the broken glass.

Wallis performed in a fundraising concert Friday – an annual event Wallis holds to entertain friends and family who do not get to see her perform during the school year – to earn money for a trip to Italy. Wallis was accepted into the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera program in Oderzo, Italy, and left yesterday for five weeks of studies in opera and the Italian language.

The performance drew nearly 200 people at the St. Mary Magdalene Mission in Bel Air, a concert organized by her father, David, and the Maryland Conservatory of Music, an institute where Wallis took lessons.

Standing at center stage, Wallis looked straight into the audience as she sang a variety of songs, juxtaposing classic songs in Italian and German with more modern pieces such as “Over the Rainbow.”

Though Wallis has performed in public before – she has opened games at Ripken Stadium with the national anthem, and she even sang “America the Beautiful” at a Little League World Series – she still gets butterflies, she said.

“Of course I was nervous,” she said. “With experience, you learn to overcome that – you learn to deal with it.”

Though most college-age kids indulge in pop, rock or hip-hop, Wallis looks beyond today’s scene to the music of legends such as Beethoven and Wagner. Opera, Wallis said, is especially inspiring.

“It’s a combination of the arts that tells a story,” she said. “There is acting, singing, instrumental music, and the sets are incredibly elaborate – it’s a fulfilling experience for me.”

Though her opera pipes came later in life, Wallis has been singing since she was 2 years old.

Wallis’ father first noticed her talent when she was in second grade, when she sang “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music in a choral performance.

“She sang it beautifully,” he said. “That’s when I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, she can perform.’ She can really do something – she can sing.”

Wallis continued to sing throughout elementary school and found her niche during her junior year of high school, when she discovered classical music.

“I’m good at singing classical music, so it kind of evolved,” she said. “I went to see an opera when I was little, and I liked it.”

For the Wallises, music is also a family affair. On Friday, Wallis sang “Cantate Domino” a cappella with her sister, Maggie, and a folk song, “Steel Rails,” with her father on guitar and uncle on harmonica.

And her family members aren’t her only fans. Wallis’ friends, many of whom attended the concert Friday, said they have seen her develop as a singer as she progresses through her time at the university.

“She is fantastic; she’s amazing,” said alumnus Len Mancini. “She deserves to go to Italy. She has worked so hard.”

Duke Thompson, Wallis’s teacher and founder and president of the Maryland Conservatory of Music, believed Wallis’ voice is in a league of its own.

“She is totally special – she’s on her own level,” he said. “She has a clear, bell voice – so pure, so rare.”

Thompson, who was a music professor in Canada for 17 years, added that Wallis’ voice is extremely advanced for her age, as an opera singer’s voice usually does not fully mature or peak until some point between the ages of 35 and 40.

“It’s amazing to see how mature her voice is for only being a sophomore,” Thompson said.

Though David admitted feeling a little nervous about his daughter pursuing a career in music, he encouraged her to pursue her dreams.

“I’ve always told her to follow her heart. … As long as she is doing that, she can’t go wrong,” he said.

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