OPERA singer Nicola Mills says she is excited to be up and running again now entertainment venues are fully open again so she can bring her two shows to Craven.

Her ‘opera for the people’ will be performed at village halls from the end of March and into April, while ‘a spoonful of Julie’ - a musical tribute to Julie Andrews, will begin its tour on April 2 at Grassington Town Hall.

Nicola is not a typical opera singer, her rise to success could easily be made into a film. She grew up in Oldham in a working class family with five brothers and very little money, but she found solace in music.

Given classical singing lessons for free when she was 15 years old, she discovered a natural talent for singing, and has been hooked ever since.

After attending The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, singing at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and performing at opera houses across Europe, Nicola decided to hit the streets and start busking in Antwerp.

Singing to everyday people, Nicola discovered that her music spoke to people from all walks of life, and it became ‘Opera for the People'.

Since then she’s performed at events all around the UK and Europe, in Canada, and even took her show ‘A Soprano and a suitcase’ over to New York, inspiring her to write ‘A Spoonful of Julie’.

She says of her tribute to Julie Andrews: “It is my heart and soul on a plate. I was that little girl singing along to Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, and I love this show.”

In lockdown when other musicians were suddenly out of work, Nicola sprung into action. The streets became theatres, as she gave concert after concert to help uplift people stuck at home. She was filmed by BBC Look North and went onto perform more than 100 concerts in a year.

She said: “I see the good that music does for people, and I love bringing my down to earth Northern roots, accent, and my singing to everyday people. Nothing makes me happier than uplifting people when I sing. I bring my song menu with popular opera and crossover songs to my audiences, and let them choose the songs they want me to sing. It really is about creating something together.”

Catch Julie performing opera for the people at Embsay with Eastby village hall on March 25; at Bradley village hall on March 26; Kettlewell village hall on April 9; Eldroth village hall on April 23 and Hellifield village hall on April 30.

A Spoonful of Julie will take place on April 2 at Grassington Town Hall.

To hear Nicola singing, and for more details and to buy tickets, visit her website: www.iamnicolamills.com. Tickets will also be available on doors.