WELSH mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins has marked the tenth anniversary of her debut album by releasing her tenth studio recording, Home Sweet Home, and now she is on the road, away from home, on a 21-date tour to promote the landmark record.

“Ten albums in ten years; it’s quite unbelievable. I’ve no idea where the time has gone,” says Katherine, who will be performing at York Barbican on Wednesday night.

Home Sweet Home needed to be a statement album, she decided.

“You think about what worked before, what didn’t, experimenting with different genres, so I wanted to make an album that went back to my roots, but was still contemporary, so it would appeal whether you liked classical music before or didn’t,” says Katherine.

“I also went back to my original record label [Decca Records]. I did six albums for them and they’re the best company for classical crossover music. It was singers like Andrea Bocelli as well as me, that were being promoted, all trying to bring classical music to a wider audience, so going back to a company who understand this music, it feels like I’ve gone home.”

There was a further factor behind the title. “I also wanted to pay tribute to my home, Wales, and the UK, where all the fans have been amazing,” says Katherine, who was born in Neath, Glamorgan, on June 29, 1980.

She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, signing her first record deal in 2003. A year later, she was the biggest-selling classical crossover artist in Britain, following the release of her debut album, Premiere. A decade later, she recorded Home Sweet Home with producer Patrick Hamilton at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, collaborating with violin virtuoso David Garrett on Ode To Joy and British tenor Alfie Boe on Barcelona.

“I never imagined a tenth of this when I started. I know, it’s crazy,” says Katherine. “When I began to train to be a singer, frankly I didn’t know if I had a voice that was good enough and I knew nothing about the business; I just wanted to be a classical singer, get into an opera chorus and work my way up.

“It’s been way and above and beyond anything I could have imagined; singing in the Sydney Opera House for the 2004 Rugby World Cup; singing for The Queen; singing with Placido Domingo.”

Tickets are still available for Wednesday’s 7.30pm concert, but not many, so prompt booking is advised on 0844 854 2757 or at yorkbarbican.co.uk


• KATHERINE Jenkins’s special guest on her Home Sweet Home tour will be fellow Welsh singer John Owen-Jones, known for his award-winning performances as Jean Valjean in Boublil and Schonberg’s Les Miserables and the the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom Of The Opera.

The West End and Broadway actor from South Wales will perform such songs as Bring Him Home from Les Mis and Music Of The Night from Phantom, as well as selections from his new album, Rise, released on March 2.

The choice of tracks broadens out from musical theatre to gospel, soul, classic rock and even Eurovision in the form of John’s interpretation of the 2014 winning song, Rise Like A Phoenix.

“When I listened to it properly, I just knew I had to record it. I liked the song so much it even inspired the name of the album,” he says. “I loved making this album. I like to think that it’s not just my voice you hear but my personality too. It’s the record I’ve always wanted to make.”