TOUTED as the next big thing in opera, Xenia Puskarz Thomas is certainly creating a buzz.

A lyric mezzo soprano, Thomas' rise continues after being plucked from the Queensland Youth Orchestra, where she spent six years as a violinist.

Queensland Youth Orchestra director John Curro said Puskarz Thomas was not renowned for her violin playing, but when he first heard her sing he was enraptured.

"She just knocked me off my feet,” he said.

"She's a huge talent.”

Now a fully-fledged singer, Puskarz Thomas is in her third year of a Bachelor of Music degree at the Queensland Conservatorium and did work experience with Opera Australia while still at school.

She has been a featured soloist with several orchestras, a soloist in regional and interstate tours and recordings with Queensland Youth Orchestra, and was recently named as one of Queensland's 50 Best and Brightest.

"I am obsessed with opera,” Puskarz Thomas said.

"It's always very emotional and complicated and I love it. You have to act and sing and opera is always a huge spectacle with a ridiculous plot.

"Nowadays, I cry at every opera.”

Puskarz Thomas will perform with sister and cellist Eugenie and pianist Elli Welsh in an intimate concert at Flutterbies Cafe in Tyalgum next month.

Welsh will perform a selection of solo items including Debussy, Mozart and more, while all three artists will perform solo items as well as pieces as a trio. These include Elegie by Massenet, Bach, Cantanta and some well known items by Puccini.

"These concerts are becoming a popular and unique opportunity for music lovers to see some of Australia's emerging classical and opera stars perform in the very up-close-and-personal venue of Flutterbies,” Hearts Aflame Productions' Solar Chapel said.

Xenia Puskarz Thomas

WHERE: Flutterbies Cafe, Tyalgum

WHEN: Saturday, July 8

TICKETS: From $35. Phone: 0488 713 241