His was a childhood marked with drama, disease and death.

Raised in the poverty-stricken and war-torn African country of Angola, Nelson Ebo lost both his parents and nine of his siblings to circumstances he himself was able to avoid, thanks to being spirited away at the age of 14 to a local seminary.

“It was a terrible and frightening time. Not only were they killing people, but they were trying to get the children and send them off to war. Fortunately, I had friends who helped me, both physically and mentally, to get away from all that sadness until I could learn how to handle it all,” Ebo recalls.

While at the seminary, Ebo found other ways to escape the horrors that haunted him. He discovered the music of great tenors such as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, and began trying to sing like them.

“I didn’t even know the songs or which language they were singing in, but I wanted to sing like them so I tried,” says Ebo, who is now perfecting his own tenor voice at the Academy of Vocal Arts. He will be joining other singers making their AVA debuts in a New Artists Recital on Sept. 26 and 27.

Before coming to the United States, Ebo was heard by a representative from the United Nations who helped secure him passage to Spain, and he began attracting attention with his voice. He had a private teacher and then attended the Conservatory of the University of Carlos III in Madrid on scholarship. While there he even got to sing for Domingo, one of his idols, as well as for the King of Spain.

“Later, Domingo himself actually gave me some singing lessons. What a great experience that was for me,” Ebo says.

Over the years, Ebo’s voice has earned him many awards, including one from the Goulio Gari Foundation in 2010 and 2011; second prize in the 2011 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition; first place in the 2010 Connecticut Concert Opera Competition; and first place in the 2008 Lakes Region Opera competition in New Hampshire.

He has sung in a variety of concerts, including events with the Richard Tucker Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Marcello Giordani and Friends, Scenes from “Carmen,” and the U.N. Human Rights Day in Geneva, Switzerland.

“I will tell you I love being here — both in the United States and at AVA. I think this is the best school in the whole world, and now that I’m here I’m getting wonderful training and wonderful opportunities with wonderful teachers and coaches,” he says.

Today, when he sings, Ebo says it makes him feel very special, and that each time he sings he can feel his family all around him. “I think some people don’t believe me but it’s true.”

He admits one of his biggest challenges so far was getting into the Academy of Vocal Arts. “There are so many amazing talents in this school. My goal is to become one day as good a singer as possible and able to win the world over with my voice.”

He adds that he’s been looking forward for a long time to attending AVA. He says, “The Academy is well known around the world and most of the singers who attend this school end up singing everywhere, like the Met, and having a very good career.

“As for me,” he concludes, “I, too, would like to be singing one day at the Met, of course, the house where all opera singers want to be. I think that is my next goal.”

For times and ticket information call (215) 735-1685.