Slightly off the "orchestral" bit of the thread -- is it different for singers?

My daughter (16) is undergoing "classical training" as a singer (she wants to be an opera singer!). When I hear her doing a solo in a concert, I'm impressed by her volume, and she sounds like all other "classically trained" singers: that is, she has the proverbial plum in her mouth. But she greatly enjoys our local session, and there produces a "folk" sound (ie she spits out the plum first). She does say that occasionally her singing teacher accuses her of ... I forget the term she used, but it implies that she's carried folk into her classical style ... but she is quite confident that she'll be able to continue in both genres. Can other singers do that?

Changing the subject: GeorgeH above has commented on his dislike of folkies producing "classical" music. My bugbear is the opposite: as far as I'm concerned that plum really gets in the way of the classical singer's folk-song. Andreas Scholl (sp?), on his recent English Folk Songs (allegedly) CD, I find appalling (but then, I'm not keen on the counter-tenor anyway).

Thanks for the refresh, John.