Katherine Jenkins

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Katherine Jenkins
Katherine Jenkins on album cover
Katherine Jenkins on album cover
Background information
Birth name Katherine Jenkins
Born June 29, 1980 (age 26)
Origin Flag of Wales Wales, United Kingdom
Genre(s) Pop, crossover
Occupation(s) Mezzo-soprano singer
Years active 1998-present
Label(s) Universal
Website katherinejenkins.com

Katherine Jenkins (born 29 June 1980 in Neath, Wales) is a Welsh mezzo-soprano.

Jenkins has recorded several albums which feature arias, popular songs, hymns and classical crossover music and has performed in a large number of concerts around the UK and other countries, including the USA and Australia.

Contents

[edit] Career

Jenkins twice won BBC Welsh Choirgirl of the Year. She then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2004, at the age of twenty-three, she signed the largest record deal in United Kingdom classical recording history, with an undisclosed seven-figure deal.

[edit] Performances

Jenkins was the first person to perform the Home Nations anthem "The Power of Four". She has also appeared regularly as the singer for the Welsh national anthem "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" at Welsh international rugby matches. As well as her appearances before Rugby Union matches, in 2004, Jenkins sang at the Rugby League Powergen Challenge Cup final between St. Helens and Wigan. Jenkins is now, the official mascot for the Wales rugby team.

In August, 2004 she made her first US appearance supporting crossover soprano Hayley Westenra at Joe's Pub in New York City. In April and May of 2005, she supported Irish tenor Ronan Tynan on his first US tour as a solo artist. Jenkins performed on the Berlin stage of Live 8 in 2005 the hymn "Amazing Grace". Her interpretation was partly a vocal solo; for the rest she was accompanied by a single softly played piano.

Jenkins' Italian-language version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" ("L'Amore Sei Tu"), first performed live at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire on August 28, 2005, was the first cut on Jenkins' 2005 album Living A Dream. Jenkins also sang lead on "I Feel Love" during Blue Man Group's performance at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance. She also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway on 11 December 2005.

In November 2006 she performed live before The Queen at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall, singing a song written specially for the Queen's 80th birthday, and joining fellow Welsh singer James Fox in the final verse of "Anthem" from the musical Chess. On December 23, 2006 Jenkins appeared as a guest and performer on ITV's Parkinson show, where she sang the Welsh national anthem informally during her interview and a Christmas song backed by the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir and a brass band.

[edit] Awards and recognition

Between 1990 and 1996 Jenkins was a member of the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers, where she achieved the St Cecilia Award, its highest accolade. She twice won the BBC Radio 2 Welsh Choirgirl Of The Year contest, and won the BET Welsh Choirgirl Of The Year. Jenkins was awarded the Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir Scholarship for the most promising young singer, and at the age of 17 won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Jenkins' album Second Nature was named the Album of the Year at the 2005 Classical Brit Awards on May 25, 2005. She repeated this success the following year with her Living the Dream album. This award is chosen by listeners of Classic FM.

Dame Vera Lynn has dubbed Jenkins the new "Forces Sweetheart", a nickname given to Lynn during World War II, for her visits to entertain troops after the Iraq invasion. In both 2005 and 2006, she spent Christmas entertaining troops in Iraq. [1] [2]

[edit] Miscellanea

  • Jenkins is a university graduate who taught music to children prior to being signed by Universal.
  • She frequently has autograph signing sessions after concerts, although recently she has begun to have them separately in music stores due to heavy concert scheduling that sometimes requires her to leave immediately after performing.
  • Jenkins is also an ambassador for Montblanc pens and gifts [3].

[edit] Personal life

Jenkins has one sister. Her father, Selwyn Jenkins, died of cancer when she was a teenager, and she has remarked on missing him in her album liner notes.

She was in a relationship for four years with songwriter and former Worlds Apart boy band singer Steve Hart. However, they kept details of their relationship private, and were rarely seen in public together. Jenkins confirmed the couple had split in November 2006, so that she could concentrate on her career [4].

She is now romantically linked to Welsh rugby international, Jonathan Thomas.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

[edit] Albums

Album Year UK Pop UK classical USA Notes
Premiere 2004 #31 [5] #1 N/K
Second Nature 2004 #16 [5] #1 N/K UK Classical Album of the Year
La Diva (USA) 2005 Import Import N/K
Living A Dream 2005 #4 [5] #1 [6] N/K UK Classical Album of the Year
Serenade 2006 #5 [5] #1 [7] N/K

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4554780.stm
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/4367434.stm
  3. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2769-2415442,00.html
  4. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006510391,00.html
  5. ^ a b c d EveryHit.co.uk UK Top 40 database (accessed: December 4, 2006)
  6. ^ BBC Wales: Katherine Jenkins: the fastest-selling UK classical artist of all time
  7. ^ WHSmith.co.uk: Music

[edit] External links

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