WITH an Italian connection and watching Pavarotti on the television while she was growing up, one could say the influences may have been there from the start.
But to hear Angela Arduca, 14, of Cecil Park sing, the innate talent is obvious.
She's very young but she's already achieved a lot.
In 2008, she performed with Opera Australia in production of Muscagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, which were performed together.
Last year she performed in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen with the Sydney Chamber Opera and also received a young achievement award for her vocal talent when she travelled to her parents' home town in Calabria, Italy.
The Penrith Conservatorium of Music and Freeman Catholic College (Bonnyrigg Heights) student has found out recently she had been selected to perform in Graeme Murphy's production of Puccini's Turandot, presented by Opera Australia, which opened this month.
She was excited upon hearing the news: "It was amazing," she said.
"When I had gone to the audition, I wasn't sure how I went."
So how did she discover she could sing?
Angela said her father tells her that when she was six years old, he one day had The Three Tenors on television.
"I said to him, 'I can do that'."
Shortly after that she began taking singing lessons. She is now finishing her second year studying at the Penrith Conservatorium.
"I love singing," the modest teen said. "I'm a soprano — I love singing high."
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