KATIE Melua will play York Barbican on November 7 next year on her 45-date winter tour.
Tickets for the Georgian-born singer-songwriter go on sale on Friday, November 22 at 10am on 0203 356 5441, at yorkbarbican.co.uk or in person from the Barbican box office.
Katie last performed at the Barbican last December, where she was joined by the Gori Women’s Choir.
The tour announcement coincides with news of a Live In Concert double album, featuring the Gori Women’s Choir, recorded at the Central Hall, Westminster, London, last December.
This limited-edition collection is presented as an 84-page hardback book, containing never-before-seen photographs of moments on stage and behind-the-scenes, captured by photographer Karni Arieli.
The book also contains illustrations created by the show’s creative directors, Karni & Saul, and opens with a foreword by Melua.
Born in the Georgian city of Kutaisi, Katie and her family moved to Belfast when she was nine years old. Now 35, she has released seven studio albums, the most recent being In Winter, the 2016 silver-certified set recorded with the Gori Women’s Choir in Georgia.
The new Live In Concert double album opens at Katie’s birthplace in Georgia with her solo rendition of the folk song Tu Asa Turpa Ikavi. Plane Song, performed with her brother Zurab Melua, speaks of their childhood in the city of Kutaisi, and is followed by Belfast, tracing the family’s emigration to the United Kingdom. Here, Katie’s journey towards becoming a professional recording artist began, leading to her debut album, Call Off The Search, released in 2003 at the age of 19.
The show recording continues with songs from all Katie’s albums, works by writers that have inspired her, crowd favourites and tales from her past.
Through the blustery autumn, the still English winter, and eventually to the spring with the world in full bloom, the artists on stage finally bring the show to a hopeful, joyous and optimistic close with a rendition of Louis Armstrong’s What A Wonderful World.
Charles Hutchinson