ELIN Manahan Thomas is a very busy lady. The 30-year-old soprano is performing on stages across Britain and Ireland in a bewildering array of productions, and next week will perform in Llangollen as part of the hotly anticipated operatic gala.

Elin lives in Sussex with her husband Robert Davies, himself a professional singer with Welsh roots, and knows that total commitment is needed in order to maintain the exacting standards of a high-profile professional singer.

"I spent the spring training for the London Marathon, but there won't be any time to run over the next few months as I'll be busy racing between rehearsals and performances," she says, as she looks forward to singing at the London Temple Festival and Buxton Festival, as well as at concerts in Edinburgh and Dublin and, of course, in Llangollen.

The gala concert, on Sunday, July 13, will showcase the talents of a number of rising stars from the world of opera. Alfie Boe is the hottest young tenor in Britain and regularly tops the classical charts and Elin is Universal Classics' latest star. Together with the honeyed baritone of David Kempster they are set to bring the 2008 Eisteddfod to a magnificent conclusion.

Elin, who is following in the footsteps of her friend Katherine Jenkins in gracing the Llangollen stage, is excited about next week's concert.

"I'm especially looking forward to performing at Llangollen, and having the opportunity to share a stage with such exceptional singers as Alfie Boe and David Kempster," she said.

Elin, whose repertoire on the night will include works by Mozart, Strauss and Handel, is assured of a warm welcome and is hoping that the weather will match.

"I hope the Llangollen Pavilion will be warmer than it was when I last sang there, at the Carolau o Langollen carol concert," she added. "It was terribly cold, but the welcome was a warm one. There is always a great rapport with Llangollen audiences; the atmosphere is special.

"I particularly enjoy visiting the Llangollen Eisteddfod. It's more of a festival than an eisteddfod, and you feel that it's the taking part and not the winning that's important. It's a very friendly festival, full of fun, colour, music and song, and it's no wonder that people return there year after year."

Elin's ideal summer always includes at least one day at the National Eisteddfod, this year held in Cardiff, and hours of soaking up the sun on the beaches of Gower.

She said: "I was brought up in Gorseinon, so the Gower was right on my doorstep. And now that my parents have moved to live there, I go down to the beaches at Three Cliffs and Oxwich when the opportunity arises.
My childhood summers included going to the Urdd camps at Llangrannog and Glanllyn too – and now the Eisteddfod is a way of catching up with old friends."

Elin will be taking her summer holiday in Ireland this year, after performing in a concert broadcast on the RTE radio station. Her mother's family lives in Dublin, and it'll be a good opportunity for her to visit her relatives.

"Bob (her husband) and I then intend to wander around Ireland by car – I've never been to the west of the country" she mused "The only thing we're bickering about now is which car to hire – I want a Clio and Bob wants an Alfa Romeo."

Elin's summers would perhaps be very different if she had followed her initial intended career path – that of an academic, specialising in old Gaelic and Celtic studies at Cambridge.

But, joining the Clare College Choir at Cambridge and becoming a regular soloist with the choir offered the opportunity for Elin to take a different path. Then, as a member of the Monteverdi Choir, under the baton of renowned conductor, Sir John Eliot-Gardiner, she began to gain experience and make a name for herself as a soloist specialising in early classical music.

Although it was in England that she started singing at a professional level, she says she owes an enormous debt to Wales, and specifically to television company S4C and production company P.O.P.1.

Seeing a DVD of the documentary about her, Soprano Bach, produced by P.O.P.1 and broadcast on S4C, generated interest from Universal Classics and Jazz and eventually led to her signing a contract with the label.

"I feel that I've been fortunate to have had so many opportunities in my career as a singer during the past 10 years. Much of the thanks for that comes from the experience and opportunity I've had in Wales, on stage and on television programmes such as Wedi 7," she explained.

"Being Welsh is such a large part of who I am. There's something very different about living in Wales – it's given me the opportunity to be myself. I believe that's true about many Welsh performers – you lose your inhibitions earlier and easier here. At the schools I attended – Pontybrenin and Gwyr – we were brought up to become creative beings.
The eisteddfod also makes a huge difference, it gives you such a boost when you're starting out."

The gala concert featuring Elin's performance will be broadcast on S4C on Sunday, July 13, from 8.30pm. Coverage from Llangollen will be broadcast, live, every afternoon on S4C digital, and highlights every evening from Wednesday July 9 to Friday 11, daily at 8.25pm.

The Choir of the World competition will also be broadcast on Saturday, July 12, from 8.15pm.