Katherine Jenkins is a mezzo-soprano singer, well-known for her opera and musical theatre performances. As she gains more popularity through her performances, she has many fans wondering more about her. People especially want to know more about her background and where she is from.
Katherine Jenkins was born in Wales, so she is Welsh. Though she has since moved away from Wales to London, England and has performances all over the world, she is still very public about her Welsh heritage.
Continue reading to find out more about Katherine Jenkins’ background and upbringing in Wales.
Wales
Wales is a country part of the United Kingdom. Many people think that the United Kingdom only refers to England, but it actually includes four countries: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
There are currently 3.1 million people in Wales and almost two million Welsh people in other countries like the United States, England, Canada, and Australia.
Katherine Jenkins is one of these two million people as she is Welsh but currently lives in London, England.
Katherine Jenkin’s Upbringing
Katherine Jenkins was born in a small town called Neath in Wales. The town only has around 19,000 people out of the 3.1 million people in all of Wales.
She was born in 1980 to her parents, Selwyn John Jenkins and Susan Jenkins, and also has a sister named Laura.
When she was younger, Katherine attended a school in Wales called Alderman Davies Church in Wales primary school in her hometown of Neath.
Then, she went on to attend another school in Neath called Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School. She later moved away from Neath for college. She went to Gorseinon College in West Glamorgan, Wales.
She started her passion for vocal performance in Grade 8 as she was studying it in school. Then in 1991, she became a member of the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers and a member of the National Youth Choir of Wales.
Further, she has represented Wales and won the BET Welsh Choirgirl of the Year competition and the BBC Radio 2 Welsh Choirgirl of the year contest twice.
She has also represented Wales for things other than music. In 2000, she was modeling and won the Face of Wales Competition.
Not only does Katherine seem proud of her Welsh heritage, but Wales seems to be proud of her as well. In 2005, she became the official mascot for the Wales rugby team and has recorded their official song.
She also frequently sings the Welsh national anthem at places like Millennium Stadium before the Wales versus England game.
Despite her love for Wales, she currently lives in London, England with her husband Andrew Levitas whom she married in 2014.
Levitas is an American from New York and is a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, writer, producer, and actor. The two have two children together.
They have a daughter, Aaliyah Reign Levitas born in 2015 and a son, Xander Robert Selwyn Levitas born in 2018. The couple is happy with just two children.
Their daughter was born in Andrew Levitas’ old city, New York City and their son was born in London, England where the couple both immigrated to.
They do still visit Wales and the United States but are also frequently seen traveling around the world.
Katherine Jenkins is often off on tour following her success from her performance in 2003 at Westminster Cathedral to honor Pope John Paul II’s 25th year as the Pope.
She typically tours around the United Kingdom to be close to home and already has a tour scheduled in 2021 for cities around the United Kingdom.
She has, however, also done international tours and has gone to South Korea, Argentina, South Africa, and even Iraq and Afghanistan to perform for British troops.
Despite all her international work and living in London, she has not forgotten her Welsh roots as she often posts on her Instagram about Wales, sometimes even including a Welsh caption.
ncG1vNJzZmiblaGyo63NrK6eqqNjsLC5jqKqZqORqbWmvsinnGailaO4qrrSZq6epKOdfA%3D%3D