 Knowles performed " Ave Maria " in Burswood Entertainment Complex , Perth , Western Australia , on September 25 , 2009 . Jay Hanna , writing for The Sunday Times , described the performance as " stunning " . Jay Lustig of New Jersey On @-@ Line described the same performance as " operatic " . Holly Byrnes of The Daily Telegraph while reviewing another stop during the concert tour of Knowles in Australia wrote that her performance of the ballad " guaranteed to have raised the sails of the Sydney Opera House " , while Patrick Emery of The Australian described her performance during another stop in the same country as " soaring " . A live performance of " Ave Maria " is featured on Knowles ' 2010 live album , I Am ... World Tour . Andy Gill of The Independent , while reviewing the DVD , gave a negative review for the performance of the song , writing that " if her grotesque over @-@ emoting on ' Ave Maria ' is anything to go by , legibility could make things a lot worse . " On December 3 , 2008 , Knowles ' performance of " Ave Maria " at the Rockefeller Center , in New York , was broadcast on NBC . A writer from People magazine described her performance as " rousing " . Knowles sang the song as a tribute to Michael Jackson at the 2008 Essence Music Festival . She later performed the song during the 2009 BET Awards , where she blended it with Sarah McLachlan 's song " Angel " in honor to Michael Jackson , following his death . Knowles appeared in an angelic Balmain mini white dress , and according to a writer from The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail , she performed a " moving version " of " Ave Maria " . A writer for the newspaper The Hindu commented that the performance of the song was " simultaneously sexy and angelic " . 
