“It would be so weird,” she laughs.
It may seem a strange concept to her but, in reality, these things could soon be happening.
For on Monday , Elin’s debut album, Eternal Light, is released by Universal Classics and Jazz.
The Swansea-born soprano has been awarded a five-album deal by the label, which is also home to Pavarotti, Bryn Terfel, Nicola Benedetti and Katherine Jenkins.
If the success of fellow Welsh star Katherine is anything to go by, Elin could soon become a household name.
After performing a showcase of her music in a packed church in London, and being invited to appear at music festivals and asked to do some TV presenting, Elin’s already received a taster of what celebrity life will be like. So is she ready for fame and fortune?
“I would love it. Wouldn’t it be great?” she says, letting out her infectious laugh once more. “But I think I am discovering that I’m more shy than I thought I was. I haven’t seen a poster of me up on the Tube yet or any telly adverts for my album, but I was on the back of Classic FM magazine.
“I was gobsmacked when I saw it. I had to buy a copy for my mum and I had it clutched to my chest so no-one could see. Sometimes it just really hits me in the face and I think, ‘Wow, life is actually getting quite different for me now’.”
Elin, 29, who won a choral scholarship to Clare College, Cambridge, before training at the Royal College of Music, secured the record deal after Mark Wilkinson, marketing manager for UCJ, spotted her singing on an S4C programme.
She was asked to travel to London to perform for bosses at the record label.
“I had to sing for three people in a dance studio in West London,” said Elin, who grew up in Gorseinon but now lives in West Sussex with her baritone husband Bob Davies.
“I was not too nervous at the time but if I’d known what it meant I would have been terrified. It never occurred to me they may want to sign me up. The next day I had a call saying they were definitely interested in me.”
The company revived its classics label Heliodor to house its core classical signings and Elin is the first artist to appear on the newly branded label.
Elin, who started singing at the age of six, recorded her debut album of Baroque repertoire at a church in East London and hopes that it will help introduce the style of music to younger audiences.
She says that Baroque is her passion and it’s the music that best suits her voice.
“My big hope is that the album will sell to a wide audience. I want to make Baroque less elitist and much more accessible. I want people to understand these are lovely tunes which may actually already be quite familiar to them.”
Elin showcased songs from the album at a church in Soho, West London, in April. The event was attended by music industry representatives and journalists.
“That was the scariest thing I’ve done yet,” she says. “Although everyone had come to support me, I still felt I had to persuade people I deserved to be there. All I could think was, ‘Everyone must be able to hear my heart beating’.”
Elin also did some presenting for BBC2 during the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World contest last month and she’s been signed up by S4C to cover the Llangollen International Eisteddfod this month.
“The singing is opening doors I didn’t even know existed. It [presenting] is very different to singing but singing is my life.
“I feel very lucky to be singing for a living.”
As another young female classical singer from Wales, Elin is prepared for the comparisons between her and Katherine Jenkins – even though they sing very different repertoires.
The pair met at the Classical Brits and London’s Royal Albert Hall earlier this year.
“We had a really nice chat. She was very supportive. I honestly don’t know how she copes with all the attention.”
Like Katherine – and most other young women – Elin enjoys dressing up.
“It’s nice to make an effort, although when I put on a ball gown it now always feels like work. But I suppose we all have a work uniform – although mine’s better than most.”
When she’s not working, Elin enjoys swimming, yoga and catching up with her cats, Annie and Harvey.
“You don’t get a better critic than a cat,” she laughs. “Every time I’m going away they sit on top of the suitcase. And when I get back they start scratching it as if it’s the suitcase that takes me away from them.”
She says that her husband, whom she married a year ago, is a massive support to her.
“I could not ask for anyone better. And it’s nice that he’s part of the opera world.”
Her parents, Wynn and Karen, who now live in Gower, are understandably proud of their only child.
“They are a bit hesitant, like me, about what happens next but they are keeping their fingers crossed for me.”
Elin is now hoping the debut album will prove a success and that she will soon be able to work on the second in her five-album deal.
“It’s fun thinking ahead about what to put on the albums. And it will also be interesting to see where my voice takes me.”
Eternal Light is released on Monday (09 July 07)
Source: Western Mail
