Carly to shine at Valentine's show

Carly Paoli is preparing to hosting her very own Valentines concert.

For the classical music star, who has taken Italy by storm, it will be her first time headlining a concert when she takes to stage at London’s Cadogan Hall tomorrow, Thursday, February 15.

The 29-year-old, from Berry Hill, is promising a night of surprises as she mixed her classical repertoire with Disney classics.

She says she will be singing songs from her debut album Singing My Dreams, which was released last year and “songs which inspired me from my childhood”.

She says: “There will be some nice surprises and a mixture of great music.

“It will be my first headlining concert, it is something I wanted to do.

“I have never had the chance to do this in the UK where I live.

“It’s a lot of work, but it is all worth it.”

Despite her stage name, Carly, real name Hopkinson, is a Mansfield girl through-and-through and was discovered at an audition in Mansfield library.

She made her international debut at the David Foster Foundation Miracle Gala in Canada in 2014, where she shared the stage with artists including Oscar- winner Jennifer Hudson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

In 2016, Carly’s debut single, Ave Maria, was chosen by the Vatican as the official song for Pope Francis’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Tomorrow’s concert will see Carly sing in front of 950 people in the home of the acclaimed Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Her music will be set to a 65-piece orchestra – which she says “has some of the most talented musicians in London”.

Some of her special guests include Grammy award-winning conductor Steven Mercurio, Federico Paciotti, who combines opera and rock music, and the Tring Park 16 Choir, winners of the BBC Songs of Praise Choir of the year 2016.

Carly says: “There will be lots of love songs, I am singing songs I love and believe the audience will love too. It is going to be a special night.

Carly, who now lives in Sussex, but visits Mansfield regularly to see her family, trains vocally for two-to-three hours a day.

She said: “I don’t have my special guests to practice with at the moment, but I have my mum and dad.”