THESE are exciting times for young Risca soprano Laura Parfitt. I met up with her on a ‘day off’ between auditioning in London for Glyndebourne Opera (returning home at 2am) and flying off to Germany at 7am the following morning on her next great adventure.

I had recently heard her perform superbly at the annual concert of the Risca male choir who were conducted by someone that Laura describes as a great friend and supporter, and someone who is still her first port of call when learning a newrole – Martin Hodson.

In a world where many musicians are often geared towards stardom froman early age it is unusual (and heartening) to hear that she only started to study music at the age of nineteen.

She had been told in school that, as she was not an instrumentalist, she should not opt for music as a subject.

Hopefully we are nowin more enlightened times! Neither did she look towards the route of the realityTVcompetition as the road to overnight success (and probable anonymity). Having left Crosskeys College she was strongly encouraged to go to theWelsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff to study music and, despite her lack of an academic music background to this point, she was to go on to achieve a first class honours degree. This was then followed by outstanding success as a postgraduate and on a performing course at The Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Dennis O’Neill Academy.

Currently she has landed the lead role as Marilyn Monroe in the new opera Happy Birthday Mr. President by Kriss Russman which premieres at the Rostock Opera in Germany at the end of January. As we discuss this she is clearly thrilled at the prospect – the subjectmatter (much of it based around the relationship with JF Kennedy, the abuse of alcohol and drugs, and the tragic death) is controversial and Laura enthuses about the music in which she hears echoes of Puccini and Richard Strauss. It is not difficult to imagine her in the part – as well as her vocal qualities, she bears a considerable likeness to Monroe.

Much of Laura Parfitt’s recent work has been for Diva Opera in London.

Most notably she gained rave reviews in the national press for her role in the modernised version of Puccini’s La Funiculla Del West.

Originally set in theWild West, this production transferred the action to gangland London and, in one notable scene, she rides through the audience on a motorbike while singing and brandishing a gun in order to rescue her lover!

Such dramatic lead roles have since continued as she has toured in the role of Tosca and is already lined up to perform another of the great tragic heroines – Violetta in La Traviata next year. Having worked hard on her dream the future is looking very bright for Laura Parfitt.