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Suzanna Purkis is bright, bubbling with quiet confidence, and after years of hard work, she has every right to be proud of her achievements. She graduates this year with honours from Birmingham Conservatoire, and in case that weren't proof enough of her talent, last month she won the highly coveted Mario Lanza Opera Prize.

Thinking back

At home in Balsall Heath, just around the corner from where she studied music at Edgbaston High School, Suzanna explains that up until two years ago, she could never have dreamed of such a positive start to her singing career.

"My voice has absolutely transformed. Before, I had all the intention of someone who wanted to do a brilliant performance, but I just could not use my voice." Often musicians see their instrument as a part of their body, but for opera singers like Suzie- as she is known to her friends- this is literally the case.

Learning from experience

As a result its strength, tone and quality are highly dependent on a singer's physical and emotional state. Suzie knows this only too well.

She entered Birmingham Conservatoire at 18, and after two years, despite high grades and a developing talent, she walked out.

Suzanna Purkis

She was one of a group of young, highly creative people, experiencing independence for the first time. "There were people who could go on drinking for days and days, then write a symphony or something. I couldn't have done that, and I struggled to find my feet.

From bright lights to bedside

"For various reasons I convinced myself that singing was not what I wanted to do. I know now that I had made that decision for other people's sake, rather than my own."

Suzie left her native Birmingham for India, and spent three months volunteering at an orphanage for the children of leprosy sufferers. This changed her ambitions entirely, and on returning to the UK she took up training as a mental health nurse.

Kate Bush, tears, and a second chance

Despite her new plans, there was something missing in her life, and it wasn't until a friend showed her a documentary on the making of Kate Bush's album, The Sensual World, that she realised what was wrong.

Suzie at home

"I literally cried all the way through the film. That day I started thinking, 'What on Earth am I doing?' Mental health nursing is great, it's really interesting and fulfilling, but I have always sung since I was tiny. I can remember being about 5 years old, spending ages taping myself singing on cassette. I always wanted to sing- it's almost everything I am, and I'd strayed so far from what I wanted to do.鈥�

So she auditioned again for the Conservatoire, gained a place in the second year, and things have been going from strength to strength ever since. At first, re-entering the world of opera after such a long absence was a shock to the system.

Getting back on track

"I had lost all of my confidence in that time away, and I can remember my friend standing in front of my car and forcing me to go into a house party full of people I didn't know. I was so nervous to begin with, but I ended up staying until six the next morning.鈥�

From that point on, Suzie got herself back on track. This is partly down to her singing teacher, internationally renowned Christine Cairns, who took her right "back to basics", and helped her discover the true power of her voice.

"My whole life is music"

Christine has performed with the likes of Sir Simon Rattle and Vladimir Ashkenazy over the past twenty years, so she knows what she's talking about. Suzie says she can't thank her enough for her support: "She is 200% committed to her students, she's like everybody's mother- she calls us her little chicks!"

Finding her true voice

Suzie has no regrets about the path she took to return to what she loves: "Losing the desire to be what other people want me to be has really enriched my performance. I don't go out on stage thinking, "I want this to meet somebody鈥檚 expectations", I just think, "I want this to be true". I don't care if I look stupid, I don't care if I shock people or make them uncomfortable, or make people laugh at me."

Opera singers render themselves physically vulnerable on stage. Their whole being goes into the performance, under the scrutiny of spotlights and audience. That's the time when insecurities show up, so it's lucky for Suzie that, after so much hard work, she knows exactly who she is, what she wants and where she is heading. That determination is what ultimately won her the Mario Lanza Prize.听

Quick change

"The two arias I sung in the competition were completely different. The first was a really flirtatious song. I was a woman saying I could wrap any man around my little finger. The second was Lucrecia's aria from Britten's The Rape of Lucrecia. I had to switch from an alluring seductress to a traumatised victim in the blink of an eye."

Suzie at home

Winning the prize was no mean feat. It was judged by world famous British baritone Christopher Booth-Jones, and Suzie was up against stiff competition from rising stars like Frida Osterberg, who has just gained a place at the highly respected Gothenburg Conservatoire.

International hopes

Armed with this award, along with Honours from Birmingham Conservatoire, the Conservatoire Singing Prize, and the Rollason Music Award, she feels she can look her future squarely in the eye. She plans to audition for a place at the National Opera Studio next year, whilst working as a singing teacher, and appearing in as many operas as she can.

"I would like to get myself known internationally- it sounds ridiculous," she jokes, "I'm scared to say it out loud, because I'm waiting for someone to turn round and say, 'What are you talking about?' Winning this prize means that I have some official endorsement of my talent, so now I can make it my business to use it."