Celtic Harpist Charms in Chinese (3)

The second half of the concert saw a switch from gold to blue in dress, a switch to a natty matching modern blue harp, and a switch from traditional Scots to an international medley of classical and contemporary works. Katie showed the full range of her linguistic and singing talents by performing works as diverse as the American jazz classic Fly Me To The Moon, the evocative Maori song from New Zealand Toia Mai - which everyone recognizes but few can actually name - and a deliciously seductive version of the Spanish song Besame Mucho (Kiss me) which certainly had every male heart in the audience beating a good deal faster.

She then handed the stage over to the delighful, pretty Chinese Guzheng player Cui Yang and the exceptional percussionist Li Shang, whose repertoire included a stunning version of the Wedding Ceremony of Mice. Katie rejoined them to perform a number of Chinese songs including Tong Yi Shao Ge, in which the Chinese audience happily participated, and the song that Katie herself wrote to commemorate the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake, Day by Day / Wei Lai.

The evening concluded with a general singalong to Auld Lang Syne, another song which everyone in China knows without necessarily being aware of its Scottish provenance. The success of the event could be measured by the enormous queue that formed afterwards to buy copies of Katie’s CDs and have them signed by the star herself, which kept her busy long into the evening. Gentle, amiable and charming, she had a smile and a word of thanks for every single one of them.