Holly Holyoake (born 31 December 1988) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

classical music singer from

Duffryn Duffryn ( cy, Dyffryn) is a large housing estatebr>in the southwest of the city of Newport, Wales, Newport, south Wales comprising a large portion of the Tredegar Park electoral district (ward). Built on land belonging to Tredegar Housebr> it ...

, Newport. A soprano, she has been likened to fellow Welsh performer

Katherine Jenkins Katherine Maria Jenkins (born 29 June 1980) is a Welsh singer. She is a mezzo-soprano and performs operatic arias, popular songs, musical theatre, and hymns.Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played thei ...

matches at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

. She considers American tenor

Mario Lanza Mario Lanza (, ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at ...

her inspiration. Holyoake's debut album, ''When Dreams Have Wings'', was self-released in 2002 with the catalogue number HRH1, and recorded when she was just 14. In 2004, Holyoake performed with

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, ''Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million c ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. She came to prominence in August 2005 when, aged 17, she won a gold award in the Open category of the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood. She was the only person representing the UK - competing against accomplished musicians from 40 countries across the world. Wales Online selected Holyoake as the sexiest woman in Wales in 2005.

References

External links

Holly Holyoake official siteOfficial MySpace profileHolly Holyoake at BBC WalesHolly Holyoake International (fan site)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyoake, Holly 1988 births Living people Opera crossover singers People from Newport, Wales 21st-century Welsh women singers