KATHERINE JENKINS

'Katherine Jenkins' (born 29 June 1980 in Neath, Wales^[1]) is an award-winning Welsh mezzo-soprano. Her first album ''Premiere'' made her the fastest selling soprano of all time and she later became the first British classical artist to have two number one albums in the same year.
Jenkins has recorded several number one albums which feature arias, popular songs, hymns and classical crossover music and has performed in a large number of concerts around the United Kingdom and other countries, including the United States and Australia.

Contents

Career

Musical performances

Awards and recognition

Personal life

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

External links

Career

At school Jenkins received A grades in both GCSEs and A Levels and participated in productions such as ''Calamity Jane'' and ''Guys and Dolls''. Two years after she had become a choir girl at her church, she shattered a chandelier whilst singing "O Holy Night" at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall.^[2] Jenkins later went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music and taught music to children prior to being signed by Universal. In 2004, at the age of twenty-three, she signed the largest record deal in United Kingdom classical recording history, with a deal reportedly worth £1 million.^[3]
In 2004, her debut album ''Premiere'' lasted a total of eight weeks at the top of the classical charts,^[4] which made her the fastest selling soprano of all time. In that same year, she became the first British classical artist to have two number one albums in the same year with ''Premiere'' and ''Second Nature'', and she now stands as the only person to hold the number one and two classical album chart positions. When Jenkins' third album, ''Living A Dream'', was released she held the positions of one, two and three in the classical music chart along with her first two albums. Her album entitled ''Serenade'' released in 2006, became number five in the charts and sold more than 50,000 copies in its first week. This ensured it was the biggest seller for a classical CD in Britain. On HMV's classical charts, the top four albums are all by Jenkins.^[5]
Jenkins has also recorded the song "You Are My Miracle" as a duet with Vittorio Grigolo for his debut album ''In The Hands of Love'' in 2006. She made a cameo appearance in two episodes of ''Emmerdale'' on May 16 and 17, 2007, opening the village pageant.^[6] Jenkins has recently teamed up with Darcey Bussell, who plan to put on a song and dance production to pay tribute to the stars which have inspired them.^[7] With a £1 million budget the show is due to be launched in Manchester in November and is entitled ''Viva la Diva''. On August 12, 2007 Jenkins appeared on ITV's ''Britain's Favourite View'' where she nominated Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower Peninsula in Wales to be voted as Britain's favourite view.^[8] She took cameras on a tour of the bay and commented that the location has sentimental value to her.^[9]
In 2007, Jenkins made an appearance on the British young people's rich list. She was ranked as the eighty-third richest young person in Britain with an estimated wealth of £6 million. As of the end of 2006, she is estimated to have sold about 2 million records since her debut in 2003.^[10] Jenkins is also an ambassador for Montblanc pens and gifts.^[11]

Musical 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, 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".^[12] 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 "I Feel Love" in front of The Queen at the 2005 Royal Variety Performance, whilst wearing a flashing, multicoloured dress.^[13] She also performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway on December 11, 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.
On July 6, 2007, Jenkins performed live on ''Saving Planet Earth'' on BBC One, to raise money for the BBC Wildlife Fund.^[14] A special concert starring Jenkins was held at Margam Park, south Wales on July 8, 2007. It was entitled Katherine In The Park and saw Jenkins perform alongside Paul Potts and Juan Diego Florez.^[15] Jenkins extended a personal invitation to Potts to sing "Nessun Dorma" at the concert.^[16]

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, which was thought of as a high 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 also awarded the Pelenna Valley Male Voice Choir Scholarship for the most promising young singer, and at the age of seventeen, she won a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London. After entering a modeling competition, Jenkins was made the Face of Wales in 2000 and then decided to focus more intently on her musical career.
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.^[17] This award is chosen by listeners of Classic FM. She stands as the first female artist to win two consecutive classical BRIT awards.
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.^[18]

Personal life

Jenkins has one sister. Her father, Selwyn Jenkins, died of cancer when she was a teenager,^[19] 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.^[20]

Discography

Singles

★ "Time To Say Goodbye" (2005)

★ "Green Green Grass of Home" (2006) UK

Albums

Album	Year	UK albums	UK classical	USA	Notes
''Premiere''	2004	#31 [21]	#1	N/K
''Second Nature''	2004	#16	#1	N/K	UK Classical Album of the Year
''La Diva ''	2005	Import	Import	N/K	Import from USA
''Living A Dream''	2005	#4	#1 [22]	N/K	UK Classical Album of the Year
''Serenade''	2006	#5	#1 [23]	N/K
''From The Heart ''	2007	Import	Import	N/K	Import from China
''Viva'' (to be confirmed)	2007	Not yet released	Not yet released	N/K	Expected release 19 Nov 2007

References

1. ''Katherine Jenkins'' — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
2. ''Not just a pretty voice'' — telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
3. ''The rise of Katherine Jenkins'' — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
4. ''Jenkins' festive show for troops'' — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
5. ''Why Katherine Jenkins is hogging the classical charts'' — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
6. ''Emmerdale cameo role for Jenkins'' — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
7. ''See what they've been keeping under their hats'' — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
8. ''Britain asked: What's your favourite view?'' — telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
9. ''Well, in my view Britain's best is...'' — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
10. ''Katherine Jenkins, Sunday Times richlist'' — timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
11. ''Katherine Jenkins'' — montblanc.com. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
12. ''Live 8 concert line-ups'' — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
13. ''Tate asks if Queen is 'bovvered''' — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
14. ''Saving Planet Earth'' — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 8, 2007.
15. ''Talent show winner in opera concert'' — aol.co.uk. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
16. ''Paul Potts comes home with Katherine Jenkins'' — newswales.co.uk. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
17. ''Soprano delighted with second Brit win'' — digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
18. ''Jenkins performs for Iraq troops'' — news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved December 24, 2006.
19. ''Q&A'' — guardian.co.uk. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
20. ''Singing star Kath's going solo'' — thesun.co.uk. Retrieved November 6, 2006.
21. ''UK Top 40 database'' — everyhit.co.uk. Retrieved December 4, 2006.
22. ''Katherine Jenkins: the fastest-selling UK classical artist of all time'' — bbc.co.uk. Retrieved January 14, 2007.
23. ''Top 10 Classical Chart'' — whsmith.co.uk. Retrieved January 14, 2007.

External links

★ Katherine Jenkins Official Site

★

★ Katherine Jenkins at BBC Wales