[ ClassicalX ] Welsh songstress to hit high notes at Dysart

With an all-star line-up featuring internationally renowned artists including Jools Holland, Gemma Hayes, Clive Barnes, Ruby Hayes, Luan Parle, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Marc Almond the first ever Dysart Festival from August 9 -10 promises to be one of the most memorable music events on the festival calender this summer.

She’s performed everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Royal Albert Hall but one of the most awe-inspiring performances of the weekend will no doubt come from 28 year-old Welsh beauty and songstress Katherine Jenkins.

Performing on the Castle stage on the Sunday night the award-winning mezzo-soprano will show the thousands of people who venture to Thomastown for the weekend why her first album ‘Premiere’ made her the fastest selling mezzo-soprano ever selling over 30,000 copies in the first week alone.

Born in Neath, south Wales, Jenkins had already expressed a keen interest in classical music by the time she was seven taking piano lessons and becoming a member of the local choir. As a young choir girl she won numerous competitions and was a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales for three years.

The death of her father when she was just 17 spurred Katherine to pursue music even more passionately and this determination shone through when she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

In order to finance her postgraduate studies in opera Katherine worked as a singing teacher while a spontaneous decision by her mother to enter her into a competition to find the face of Wales launched a part-time, yet profitable career in modelling.

Undoubtedly this success was a sign of things to come for the talented singer and as soon as she finished her studies in 2003 Katherine was offered a six album seven figure recording contract with Universal Classics, making it the biggest record deal in UK classical recording history.

2003 certainly proved to be a memorable year for the singer who made her debut appearance singing the Welsh national athem at Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium.

Katherine’s unique talent has enabled her to travel around the world to perform at some of the most prestigious venues and events including Live 8 concernts in Berlin, London and Edinburgh, Noble Prize ceremonies in Sweden, Pope John Paul 11’s Silver Jubilee at Westminister Abbey and a number of performances at the Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall.

Since the release of her debut album ‘Premiere’ in 2004 she has already outsold opera legends such as Maria Callas while her collaborations with artists such as Bryan Adams represent a unique and hugely successful crossover from classical to pop music.

Winner of two classical Brit awards for two consecutive years and holder of a top five hit in the British pop charts, she is the only singer in musical history to simultaneously hold the number 1,2 and 3 positions in the classical charts with her three albums, ‘Premiere,’ ‘Second Nature’ and ‘Living the Dream’ in 2005.

At just 28 years of age Katherine Jenkins has already achieved as much in five years as many artists would hope to achieve in a lifetime. And with a voice that will shatter glass as well as sell millions of albums worldwide Katherine’s Kilkenny performance is not to be missed.

Source: Kilkenny Advertiser