Katherine Jenkins

[stevemacdonald]

She's touring with Hayley. Here's the latest:




March 4, 2004

Katherine's date set for the north


By Helen Harper Caernarfon Herald


WALES' latest opera singing sensation is busy preparing for her first performance in North Wales.

Katherine Jenkins, 23, who visited Caernarfon last October, will be returning to North Wales this month to promote her new album.

Premiere will be released on April 19 and includes a selection of classical music songs by the graduate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Katherine told the Herald: "My album comes out on April 19 and includes a mixture of all different types of classical music. It is easy listening and has three Welsh songs on there and I'm very happy with it. It was an absolute dream to make my first CD and I hope that other people like it too."

Since her visit to Caernarfon, she has supported Anglesey's Aled Jones, performed in Max Boyce's concerts at the Sydney Opera House, and at a concert to mark the Pope's Silver Jubilee.

She continued: "Time has been flying really quickly. The show with Aled Jones went really well. It was lovely and I got to go out and meet the audience afterwards. Aled was very supportive.

"And performing at the Sydney Opera House was awesome, without a doubt it was my dream to perform there, and Max was so friendly. The concert hall was filled, with as far as I could see, Welsh people with flags and costumes. It was a lovely atmosphere.

"Then I took part in the service in honour of the Pope and I sang Ave Maria. I had never seen Westminster Cathedral so packed. You couldn't have fitted more people in there!"

Now Katherine is about to embark on a tour of Great Britain alongside New Zealand singing sensation Hayley Westenra, who performed with Bryn Terfel at last year's Faenol Festival.

Katherine continued: "I start my tour on March 20 and on March 21, I am in Llandudno. I have met Hayley and we will be singing some duets together so we met up before Christmas to decide what music we will be doing and I am really looking forward to it. I have never performed in North Wales before, so I am looking forward to that."

See Katherine Jenkins and Hayley Westenra at the North Wales Theatre, in Llandudno, on Sunday, March 21. For more information phone the theatre on [phone].

Alternatively, see her performing at the start of the Wales v France game on Sunday!

[stevemacdonald]

Katherine's pitch for glory

Mar 6 2004

Hannah Jones, The Western Mail


THIS could well be the turning point for Katherine Jenkins.

With the launch of her new CD, appropriately called Premiere, she's hoping she might no longer be known as "that girl who sings before rugby matches".

Because despite her classical training and stunning mezzo voice, she's widely regarded as the face of Welsh rugby. Well, the face of the singing before international matches that is.

The Neath-born singer performed before a crowd of 70,000 at the Wales v England match at the Millennium Stadium last summer. She also sang Bread of Heaven during the World Cup in Australia and joined music industry giants Dame Shirley Bassey and Luciano Pavarotti on an album celebrating the games.

The 23-year-old appeared on a TV and radio package by Max Boyce broadcast from Oz on the eve of the Wales-All Blacks game. And tomorrow she will rouse the crowds before Wales kick off against France. But it's all in a day's work for the would-be diva.

"I know that some people think of me in terms of the rugby, but I've been singing classical music since I was very small," she said.

"I'm very honoured to sing before these big rugby matches but I'm much more than that.

"It was my big break though and I can't wait for the match today."

Although she won't get the opportunity to show off her broader talents tomorrow, sticking strictly to the two-song staple of Bread of Heaven and Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, fans will be able to glean more musical information about her when her album is released next month.

Katherine was snapped up by recording giant Universal Classics, home to Bryn Ter-fel and teen soprano Hayley Westenra, which has given her a six-album deal.

She says her first CD reflects her musical identity.

"This album, which I'm obviously really excited about, shows the kind of music that has inspired me throughout my life.

"There's such a cross-section of music on there, it could either be viewed as an introduction to classical music by people who are starting to get into it or an album for those who are real enthusiasts.

"I have done popular arias on there, Welsh songs and even put poems to classical tunes that people would recognise from the adverts, such as Satie's Gymnopedies from the Hamlet cigar advert. So that's something really new we've experimented with."

Katherine has the talent and looks to cross over to mainstream music. Her boyfriend Steve Hart has written music for chart-topping pop band Liberty X, but she says she's happy in the classical sphere.

"When I sat down and told the record company what songs I wanted to put on this album, I came up with about 60 titles.

"I've still got that list, so there's many more songs I fancy putting on my next album. But for now I'm concentrating on this one and enjoying every minute.

"Classical music is what moves me so I don't think you'll see me on Top of the Pops." Even if you'll catch her again on the rugby pitch.

Katherine Jenkins's album Premiere is released on April 19. She supports Hayley Westenra in concert at the North Wales Theatre in Llandudno on March 21 and St David's Hall, Cardiff, on March 28.

[stevemacdonald]

Dream come true

Mar 12 2004

Gareth Bicknell Daily Post

New Welsh diva Katherine Jenkins talks to Gareth Bicknell about her new tour.



ON a rare day off, Katherine Jenkins is enjoying a bit of "me time" after a hectic year which has seen the stunning mezzo soprano take the singing world by storm.

"I'm at home, catching up on sleep, getting the house together and preparing to leave again," she says, but there is no hint of fatigue in her voice, despite the fact she has just recorded her debut album Premiere after touring the Far East and Australia, and is about to hit the road with rising star, Hayley Westenra.

In fact, she is as cheerful in voice as she is beautiful in the flesh, the phone line crackling with her enthusiasm and joie de vivre, as she talks about her favourite artists, her recent appearance in Channel Four's The Salon and the possibility of victory over England for her beloved Welsh rugby team.

"The English are very difficult to beat right now, but the Irish proved it can be done and no-one should ever underestimate the boys in red," says the girl-next-door from Neath, her accent lilting gently.

Katherine, 23, achieved a dream when she sang Bread of Heaven in front of 72,000 fans at a packed Millennium Stadium before Wales warmed up for last year's World Cup with a "friendly" against England. She travelled with squad as the team's official mascot, performing in the Far East en route to an appearance at the Sydney Opera House - which she describes as an "amazing" experience.

The former model, who famously shattered a chandelier as she reached the high note in O Holy Night, is set to be the darling of the classical and opera world when her new album is released on April 19, but as she takes advantage of the all-too-uncommon chance for a bit of relaxation and recuperation, she admits is more likely to be listening to Christina Aguilera than to preview CDs of her debut record.

"I really love what Christina Aguilera's doing. I really respect her, as well as people like Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce.

"I listen to any type of music to relax," she says. "I do love classical music, but to listen to myself when I've been working all day, that would be weird. I'm very critical of myself, so it wouldn't be relaxing at all."

Among her favourite classical artists are Bryn Terfel and Andrea Bocelli, and, of course, Westenra, the 16-year-old Kiwi singing sensation who she goes into rehearsals with next week.

"Hayley is simply amazing," she says. "She's got a great voice and a great talent and I've seen at close hand how hard she works - she really deserves the success she's had, even at such a young age.

"I'm really looking forward to coming to Llandudno, it's a beautiful place and I spent a lot of time there on weekends away when I was younger. Last summer I came up to see Hayley and Bryn in the Faenol Festival, but this will be the first time I've actually performed in North Wales."

The tour, which sees the pair perform at Cardiff's St David's Hall a week after the Llandudno date, meant the release date for Premiere had to be put back from its original St David's Day launch. So, instead of attending a publicity party for her album, Katherine was able to undergo a bit of reality TV rejuvenation when she appeared in a Welsh edition of C4's hairdressing reality show, The Salon.

"It was really weird," she says. "I went in and had my nails done and sang the National Anthem - everyone was really nice, but the minute I walked in there I was so self conscious. You can't see the cameras because they're all behind the mirrors, but that makes it even worse. I don't think I looked in the mirror once!"

It seems strange that she should be self-conscious after twice singing in front of thousands at a national sports stadium (the second time was before the recent Six Nations game against France) and has performed at some of the world's finest opera venues.

Her album reflects some of those defining moments in her blossoming career - Ave Maria brings back memories of singing for the Pope, while the record wouldn't be complete without Bread Of Heaven - "it's such a great rugby song, it's really special". But one of her favourites is still The Lord Is My Shepherd, which for her marks a moment that kick-started her success story - when she won Welsh Choirgirl Of The Year title, aged 11.

"I feel like that was the first breakthrough of my singing career and it just seemed so apt to include it on my debut album," she says.

So, one album down, five more to go on her record deal with Universal Classics. She says one ambition for the future is to play her favourite role Carmen for a second time, and to have a number one record in the classical chart. She may just be on the verge of achieving that, but for now she is quite content with being hailed as "the new Welsh diva".

"This is my dream come true," she smiles.

* Hayley Westenra and Katherine Jenkins, North Wales Theatre, Llandudno, March 21 and St David's Hall, Cardiff, March 28.

[HWI]

Hi folks,

As we all know, Katherine is Hayley's guest on all her UK concerts in the current tour. I had the privilege of witnessing her performance at Llandudno last Sunday - and will do so again this coming Sunday in Cardiff. I also met Katherine, who I found to be a really lovely young lady. She has probably the most beautiful mezzo-soprano voice I have ever heard - and this even though she was battling against a chest infection last weekend.

Hers is quite a story and, rather than tell it here, I have started a discussion group dedicated to her. I would be really pleased to see those of you who are interested come along there and join the group. To go to the group, simply click on Katherine's name here: Katherine Jenkins

See you there.

Keith.

[Dave]

Katherine Jenkins' second album "Second Nature" has entered the UK Pop chart today at number[/color] 16 [/color]. This is a simply astounding achievement for a classical singer, reminiscent of what Hayley did 13 months ago with "Pure". It is only six months since Katherine released her debut album... this one has done better than her debut album - although not quite as well as Pure (entered at 8).

It is, of course, top of the classical charts, so well done to Katherine! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

PS Vanessa Mae has also entered the UK pop chart at number 66 and is second in the classical chart. This is also an excellent result, for her new album. Hayley is back at 14th in the classical artist chart with Pure.

[gareth]

Hello all,

Tonight, Katherine Jenkins performed on Songs of Praise, in a programme commemorating the Welsh religious Revival in 1904.

And her performance was simply outstanding. I haven't yet purchased either of her two albums, but I will do so this weekend when I visit Cardiff.

She sang "https://i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gifyma gariad fel y moroed" ("Here is love, vast as the ocean") in the Morriston Tabernacle, a church central to the Revival. I was deeply impressed and moved by her singing.

Anyway - judge for yourself. You can download the video from
www.hayley-westenra-international.net/downloads.htm

Some of you may have visited that page before - but I have added a few videos - there is now a third video by Anna Netrebko (who was supposed to have performed at Munich in September, in the same show as Hayley - but personal circumstances prevented her from attending), as well as a video of Izzy performing "Be Still My Soul". I uploaded that one earlier to Classicalrelated, but now it is in one piece, and can be downloaded from a proper web hoster .

Gerrit

[Dave]

GerritK said:

Hello all,
Tonight, Katherine Jenkins performed on Songs of Praise, in a programme commemorating the Welsh religious Revival in 1904.
And her performance was simply outstanding. I haven't yet purchased either of her two albums, but I will do so this weekend when I visit Cardiff.
She sang "Dyma gariad fel y moroed" ("Here is love, vast as the ocean") in the Morriston Tabernacle, a church central to the Revival. I was deeply impressed and moved by her singing.
Anyway - judge for yourself. You can download the video from
www.hayley-westenra-international.net/downloads.htm

Some of you may have visited that page before - but I have added a few videos - there is now a third video by Anna Netrebko (who was supposed to have performed at Munich in September, in the same show as Hayley - but personal circumstances prevented her from attending), as well as a video of Izzy performing "Be Still My Soul". I uploaded that one earlier to Classicalrelated, but now it is in one piece, and can be downloaded from a proper web hoster .
Gerrit

Thanks for the links Gerrit, Katherine did do rather well, didn't she! Izzy I can take or leave - but Anna Netrebko, what a star! You are going to buy Katherine's albums... I am going to buy both of Anna's albums and I simply cannot believe she barely made the bottom of the UK classical charts with them. She's had the top 2 positions in the German classical chart for ages - they certainly have taste over there! Keep the videos of her coming... please!

Edit: Oooh, I've just noticed, Katherine has gone UP 1 place to 25 in the UK pop album chart this week, her third week in there. Top of the classical, too!

[gareth]

Hi all,

I'm pleased to announce that
www.katherine-jenkins-international.com/ is now live! Obviously, the content of the site is still quite meagre at this stage, but there's heaps of info available that can be added. This will be done gradually - the first thing is to stay up-to-date with the latest news.

Anyway, the latest news is that Katherine will open the Tsunami concert with Amazing Grace, and that she will perform three songs in all. The article is already available in the News section.

Currently I have nothing yet for the scans section, so if anyone has a relevant scan, that would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Gerrit

[gareth]

Hello all,

a video of Katherine performing Amazing Grace and Caruso at today's Tsunami Concert is now available from the Video section of
www.katherine-jenkins-international.com/

With thanks to Dave, for acquitting himself of the job of digitising it so quickly!

Note that the News section also has up-to-date coverage of the concert.
Gerrit

[Richard]

Hello folks!

I had the pleasure of seeing Katherine last March when she appeared with Hayley at the London Palladium, and I met her after the show when she came out to sign autographs first. She's got a lovely personality and a very pleasant mezzo-soprano voice, but perhaps her voice isn't quite as distinctive as Hayley's. She certainly deserves all her success though, and she's definitely one of the best singers in the UK today!

Yesterday I was fed up with the freezing cold weather in London, so I took the train west to sample the freezing cold weather in Cardiff instead! While I was there I had a look in St. David's Hall, and I spotted a notice by the box office which stated that the Katherine Jenkins concert there tonight (Sunday 6th March) is sold out.

Congratulations Katherine!

Now I'm looking forward to spring, and Olympia!

Bye for now,

Richard

[Dave]

Hi Richard, I hope you've warmed up by now!

Speaking of Katherine, she has a big article in the latest Classic FM magazine and I'm surprised nobody's yet mentioned the nice comments in it about Hayley. There's also some speculation about a possible date for Hayley in Las Vegas in July, here's the quote:

"She [Katherine] is friends with Universal's other hot property Hayley Westenra, and was invited by Hayley to sing in her New York concert last August. So successful was it that the Americans ('they were fascinated by my accent') wanted to 'put me on somewhere that you don't normally get opera. So I went out to Las Vegas, I saw a few shows to see if I thought an opera spectacular would work there. So we're going to put on a show in July there called Diva Las Vegas'. It will feature a full orchestra, songs from Katherine's second album and a roster of guest stars - Hayley, perhaps, and maybe even Bryn himself."

All speculation of course at this stage and things often change, but thanks to Keith and Gerrit for the article scan: here it is at KJI. I'm especially glad that Katherine and Hayley seem to get on well together, this must be good for Hayley as she travels the World away from most of her friends and family. Katherine's situation seems different... she's firmly rooted in her home Country and that must make things much easier for her.

[Richard]

Hello again everybody, I've got some useful information for any new fans of Katherine Jenkins here in the UK.

HMV are currently selling both of Katherine's CDs, "Premiere" and "Second Nature", for only £9.99 each. Some copies are marked at a higher price, so look for the big red price stickers!

Her CD single "Time To Say Goodbye" is priced at £2.99.

It's time for me to say goodbye, but I'll say hello to some of you Hayley fans at Olympia on 20th March! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Bye for now,

Richard

[Richard]

Hello folks, here's an update.

Both of Katherine's CDs are still available at £9.99 each in HMV, 150 Oxford Street, London W1, but they may not be available at this price in all branches.

Today I looked in HMV at Southampton, where "Premiere" is £16.99 and "Second Nature" is £14.99!

My advice is shop around.

Richard Norrington,
Roving Reporter,
HWI Forum.

Next week I'll be on News at Ten! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

[mortyman]

Katherine Jenkins and Norwegian band A-ha is under the same managment:

Brian Lane and Bandana managment:

www.banman.co.uk/artists.htm


Small world indeed


Can we hope for a duet between Katherine and Morten Harket ??

[Richard]

Hello again Morten!

You might be interested to know that Hayley and Katherine are good friends and often sing together. Perhaps one day we might see a trio with Hayley, Katherine and Morten Harket! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Best Wishes from London,

Richard