Alpena native Breanna Burrone is preparing to step onto one of Europe’s biggest musical stages, a decade after leaving northern Michigan on an exchange scholarship. Burrone, who was born and raised in Alpena and is now a German citizen, will compete on the upcoming season of “The Voice of Germany.”
The season premiere is scheduled for Sept. 11. However, supporters in Alpena and elsewhere in the United States will not be able to watch the program through a U.S. broadcast or direct streaming service. Burrone does not yet know the exact date her episode will air, but she plans to share video content and updates on social media so people back home can follow her blind audition.
From Alpena classrooms to a Berlin audition
Burrone’s connection to Germany began when she studied the language in eighth grade at Thunder Bay Junior High School and continued those studies at Alpena High School. In 2016, she received a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange scholarship to study abroad. After briefly returning to Alpena in 2017, she moved back to Germany full-time in 2018.
Her route to the television competition began when two friends in Germany submitted an application for her while she was working on independent music projects. The group later completed the application together. Burrone initially told herself she did not want to participate in a competition of that kind, but eventually decided it was an opportunity she needed to pursue.
The application process lasted more than a year. Burrone submitted materials in May 2025 for the 2026 season, then advanced through three online casting rounds in December 2025. An online interview followed in February. In March, she traveled to Berlin for an in-person audition, where she performed three songs for producers. Two weeks later, she received an official invitation to take part in the televised blind auditions.
“I chose ‘The Voice of Germany’ because I have lived in Germany for 10 years now,” Burrone said. “It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to finally do something big with my music and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. ‘The Voice’ altogether has a great reputation and is well known all over the world.”
Family support from across the Atlantic
Burrone’s parents and the rest of her family in Alpena had to keep the casting news confidential until official announcements could be made. Her mother ultimately flew to Berlin to watch the blind audition from the studio audience.
“Even though my entire family lives in Alpena, they’ve all found their way of being supportive somehow,” Burrone said, adding that her mother flew to Berlin to sit in the audience during the blind audition. “That meant the world to me, literally. Growing up in an extremely musically gifted family has been a blessing, and I know how proud everyone is of me, even from afar.”
Burrone has also built a professional life in Germany. She worked in a cafe before completing an orthodontic apprenticeship six months early and earning a specialized orthodontic assistant degree in 2024. She now works as a biomedical technology supervisor for an American company based in Germany.
A demanding day under the studio lights
Filming in Berlin brought an additional challenge: an intense summer heatwave. Burrone said temperatures reached 89 degrees overnight and 105 degrees during the day. Air conditioning was available in some parts of the studio but not everywhere, and contestants wearing makeup relied on small fans worn around their necks.
On audition day, contestants waited in a holding area without knowing the precise order in which they would perform. When Burrone’s turn arrived, she walked onto the stage to sing a well-known rock song by a band she had loved as a child.
“The stress of not knowing when it’s your turn ate me alive, but when it was finally my turn, I was taken backstage, cameras on me all the time, a quick briefing of what was about to happen, and then boom, those curtains opened,” Burrone said. “Seven hundred people watching you in complete silence as you walk to the designated dot on the stage, where you’re in the dead center.”
Although the wait was nerve-racking, Burrone said she felt certain she belonged on the stage as the live band prepared to begin.
“The time between me walking out and the live band starting to play felt like an eternity, even though it might have been five seconds,” Burrone said. “When I got out there, I said to myself in my head, ‘this is exactly where you’re supposed to be.'”
She has become familiar with singing in front of large studio audiences while using specialized in-ear monitors. Even so, she said performing in Alpena during summer visits remains meaningful because of the familiar faces and the community atmosphere.
“To everyone back home in Northern Michigan who has been cheering me on, thank you,” Burrone said. “It means more to me than I could ever put into words. Even though I’m an ocean away, knowing that people from my hometown are watching, supporting me, and rooting for me makes this whole experience feel a little less far from home.”
“I’m so proud to be able to represent a little piece of Northern Michigan all the way over here in Germany,” Burrone added.