Hayley Hits Right Note with Two Brit Nominations

By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor, PA News

Teen soprano Hayley Westenra and opera star Bryn Terfel lead the way at this year’s Classical Brit Awards with two nominations each, it was announced tonight.

Westenra, aged just 17, is nominated for female artist of the year.

She is up against Italian opera singer Cecilia Bartoli, 37, and Marin Alsop, the 46-year-old American conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Westenra’s multi-million selling album Pure is nominated for album of the year.

Released in September last year, it was the top-selling classical album of 2003 and has sold around 600,000 copies in the UK alone.

Bryn Terfel’s album, titled Bryn, is nominated in the same category.

The Welsh baritone is pitted against violinist Nigel Kennedy and conductor Sir Colin Davis for male artist of the year.

The album longlist is dominated by populist performers and household names.

Former Hear’say star Myleene Klass, now a classical pianist, is included, as are the winners of Channel 4 show Operatunity, Denise Leigh and Jane Gilchrist.

Other nominees in the album category include Aled Jones, Lesley Garrett, Luciano Pavarotti and “the world’s first opera band”, Amici Forever.

The album award will be voted for by Classic FM listeners and magazine readers, while the rest will be decided by the Academy.

Newsreader Katie Derham will host the awards ceremony from the Royal Albert Hall on May 26.

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