Two number one albums, half a million record sales and now a Classical Brit - it has certainly been a busy year for Katherine Jenkins. Around 18 months ago, she was giving singing lessons to children in Neath, dreaming of topping the classical charts and singing at the Sydney Opera House.

The 24-year-old mezzo-soprano has already done both, and that is not all.

As the Wales rugby team's mascot, she has played at the Millennium Stadium more times than Chelsea, and has raised her UK profile with performances at the VE Day celebrations and the Tsunami Relief Concert.

Although it seems as though she has appeared from nowhere, she has a solid classical background, and her path to fame has been anything but an overnight phenomenon.

As a schoolgirl, she was named Welsh choirgirl of the year, and after training at the Royal Academy, she was quickly snapped up by Universal Classics, who gave her a six-album £1m deal.

She recognises the importance of promotion - not every artist is like that

Since then, the albums Premiere and Second Nature have propelled her into the classical music hierarchy, but experts said was not just about having a good voice.

Mark Wilkinson, marketing director at Universal Classics, said Jenkins was one of the hardest working artists on their books, who was easy to work with.

"She is an utter professional, a wonderful singer and has a team utterly committed to her," he said.

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