SHE is only 18 but Newport teenager Holly Holyoake has already won a clutch of awards for an extraordinary voice that has impressed from her home city to Hollywood. Jane Helmich meets the up-and-coming soprano...

WHEN Holly Holyoake walked out to sing during half-time at a Newport Gwent Dragons match just before Christmas, many in the crowd who had not heard her before were expecting the usual pop performance from yet another young hopeful.

So they were astounded when the most incredible voice filled Rodney Parade, all coming from the tiny figure in the middle of the pitch singing carols.

Just a few months later, Holly was asked to perform before another rugby audience.

This time, stepping in at almost the last minute to replace the acclaimed Katherine Jenkins, it was to sing the national anthem, with tens of thousands of spectators crammed into the Millennium Stadium, before Wales' final Six Nations match against France.

Holly proved to be the right choice and it could be another step towards her becoming as renowned as Ms Jenkins and Wales' other songbird, Charlotte Church.

Holly has always lived on the Duffryn estate, and attended the local primary and comprehensive schools. Both in her neighbourhood and at her schools, her singing has won nothing but admiration.

Holly always enjoyed performing in school events and holiday competitions - she won sparkling "cocktails" as a five-year-old in karaoke competitions in Portugal with mum Trixie kneeling by her and reading the lines for her to sing - but she was about 11 before she discovered a love for classical music.

"It wasn't until I went for singing lessons, which was something I had been begging Mum for, and my teacher Irene (Livingstone) asked if I would be interested in it. I just thought why not, it would be something different."

One of her musical heroines was, and still is, Celine Dion. "She was classically trained and I thought I could do that."

Holly took part in her first concert at St Julian's Methodist Church with Newport Philharmonic Choir. Conductor Jeff Davies, who was then her music teacher at Duffryn High, asked her to perform at the spring showcase.

"It was nerve-racking," confesses the pretty youngster, who sang Panis Angelicus and Vinalle as well as the rather more light-hearted Teddy Bear's Picnic.

As her training continued, her voice became more powerful, and she continued to give public performances, making regular appearances with Caldicot Choir.

Her school friends enjoyed her successes. "I think they liked the fact that I was doing something different. They were really supportive." Holly has also always been able to count on her family - mum Trixie, dad Craig, brother Ryan, 21, and sister Kirsty, 23. She is also a proud aunt to Kirsty's daughter, Hallie.

Since those early days, she has always been in demand, says Trixie. As well singing the anthem at the Millennium Stadium last month, highlights include releasing her first album in 2005, performing Ave Maria on stage with classical star Hayley Westenra and winning a prestigious competition in the United States.

She was the only person representing the UK among thousands of entrants at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood last year but she was garlanded with honours.

As well as winning the gold award in the open category, singing I'll Walk With God, she also took bronze in both the opera and Broadway musical sections.

She has also been lauded by fans of legendary Italian-American tenor Mario Lanza, another of her musical heroes, and met his son Damon. She sang at the Mario Lanza Ball in Philadelphia and received an award "for blending love of Mario Lanza and devotion to Belcanto".

As a budding star, Holly would appear to have the perfect name - it is certainly memorable, and rolls off the tongue. But her mum laughingly denies she had any visions of her daughter's future fame when she was born.

The name was chosen, she says, simply because they liked it and it was short. Trixie, 41, is certainly no "stage mum".

Although she arranges Holly's diary and manages her website, she is content to stay in the background and insists she would be proud of her daughter no matter what she did.

Holly's immediate future includes a private concert with Vittorio Grigolo at Broadcasting House, BBC Wales, on April 24, and an appearance at the Trevethin Festival in St Cadoc's Church, Pontypool, on April 28. She is also hoping to record another album.

Since leaving school, the young soprano has continued to perform, practising every day, and also works part-time for Lloyds TSB internet banking.

But her dream is to have a full-time musical career - and with her talent it should be one that comes true.