Katherine Jenkins Cape Town concert at GrandWest

Back by popular demand, the Mezzo-Soprano from Wales will serenade Mother City audiences for a second time

After two sold-out South African performances in 2011, Katherine Jenkins returns by popular demand to enchant Cape Town audiences with her intoxicating voice at the Grand Arena GrandWest on Friday, 17 August 2012. Katherine will be accompanied on stage by a top quality orchestra and renowned British conductor, Anthony Inglis.

For those who don’t know, Katherine Jenkins is as pretty as a picture, can sing her socks off and is all about ‘the everyman’. Or, more formally, she’s a Welsh Mezzo-Soprano who defies the stereotype of the classical songstress norm. Unlike other opera greats, Katherine is a firm believer in making classical music more accessible and less intimidating to us average Joes; she says, “The audience for classical music has changed enormously in the last five years. At the start of my career, classical music was mostly for an older, ‘posher’ audience, but I was never part of that. I get so annoyed with the purists who think the music is only for them.”  

She is famous for her classical cross-over music, and is fast becoming a household name thanks to her acting roles in the British series ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Emmerdale’, as well her roles on reality shows ‘Dancing With the Stars’, ‘Popstar to Operastar’, ‘X Factor’, ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and ‘The Apprentice’ - to name a few.

However, never one to be pigeonholed, Katherine has also had the privilege of singing at Westminster Cathedral to honour Pope John Pauls II’s silver jubilee and of performing in front of the Queen of England at the Royal Variety Performance.

In the two years since Katherine released her album, ‘Believe’, she has performed around the globe, appeared on countless reality shows and television shows as both judge and contestant, oh, and turned 30.

Her latest album, recorded in London and Los Angeles, is called ‘Daydream’, and was released in June 2012. This album is a testament to the ever-evolving range of Katherine’s voice, and features songs from all ends of the spectrum: classical, choral, traditional, musical theatre and pop.

When quizzed about the eclectic nature of the work, she explains that, though she has classical roots, she’s made up of so many different types of music. That said, she also claims to have developed a love of folk songs, a point well-evidenced by the inclusion of two Welsh hymns and traditional Irish and Scottish songs on the album.  

What to expect from Katherine since she was last welcomed to South Africa? “When I made my last album, ‘Believe’, I was still in my 20s, and I feel like there has been a big shift since then,” she explains. “My performance has come on through two years travelling the world, and I was desperate to get back in the studio after so long. I wanted ‘Daydream’ to be a very natural, very intimate album. I want people to put it on and let it take you to that place where you can just think - or not think - and just relax into it.”

Sounds Sublime.

Tickets are available through Computicket and range in price from R225p/p to R525p/p, depending on your preferred ticket.

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By Aisling Holmes