 Jazz singer Katie Melua shakes hands with the Queen |
Jazz singer Katie Melua has performed before the Queen at a day-long royal tribute to Britain's music industry. The 20-year-old shrugged off a cold to sing her hit song The Closest Thing to Crazy, accompanied on piano by record producer and former Womble Mike Batt.
The concert also featured performances from music students and choirs.
The event ends later with a celebrity reception at Buckingham Palace. A host of music stars, including Eric Clapton and Brian May, have been invited.
Other star guests include Phil Collins, Dame Vera Lynn, Jamie Cullum, Bryn Terfel, Terry Wogan, Humphrey Lyttleton and Sir Cameron Mackintosh.
Performances
Tuesday's concert, held in the palace ballroom, was attended by 250 schoolchildren from five London boroughs.
 The Queen meets members of Birmingham's Young Voices Choir |
The event featured performances from the Bhavan Music Group, the City of Birmingham Young Voices choir and the National Youth Orchestra. Master of the Queen's Music, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, composed three Renaissance Scottish dances that were performed by the Omega Ensemble.
The youngest performer was eight-year-old Vilma Aber Oketta, who played the udu and water drum with the African Abantu Ensemble.
New accolade
Ian Tindale, a student at Icknield Community College in Oxfordshire, played Bach's Prelude in G Major on the ballroom organ, which was overhauled and recommissioned in 2002.
Buckingham Palace also announced the arrival of a new accolade, the Queen's Medal for Music, which will be bestowed upon individuals who have influenced the nation through music. The award, open to musicians of any genre, will be awarded on 22 November, the memorial day of the patron saint of music Saint Cecilia.
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who will chair the award committee, described the prize as "a concrete symbol of the esteem which most of us feel musical life in Britain deserves".
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