Award-winning NI Christian singer/songwriter couple Keith and Kristym Getty take to stage in Oz in culmination of tour

Northern Irish hymn writers and Grammy-nominated recording artists Keith and Kristyn Getty, known for the song “In Christ Alone,” celebrated a debut performance at the Sydney Opera House yesterday (June 29).

The concert concluded the Sing! World Tour, which spanned three continents.

Prior to the Australian leg of the tour, the Gettys performed in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the SSE Arena and in Singapore at the Star Theatre.

Over 19,000 people attended the various concerts.

The Gettys are no strangers to iconic venues, having previously appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Centre, the Grand Ole Opry House, and London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Widely considered ambassadors for the hymn genre, Christianity Today named the Gettys “pre-eminent” hymn writers of our generation who have “changed the way evangelicals worship”.

Beginning with “In Christ Alone,” the Gettys have written or published 38 of the 500 most sung songs in US/UK churches.

Their original publishers, Integrity Music, estimate that over 100 million people around the globe sing their hymns each year.

In 2018, Keith Getty became the first contemporary church musician of the modern era to receive the OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and hymnody.

The Getty’s global tour incorporated a blend of Celtic music, bluegrass, folk, classical, and gospel, accompanied by a band of virtuosic musicians from Nashville and Ireland.

Featured guests included saxophonist Kirk Whalum (known for his collaborations with Whitney Houston and Luther Vandross), jazz vocalist Dana Masters (longtime background singer with Van Morrison), leading Australian children’s TV personality and country singer Colin Buchanan, contemporary worship artists CityAlight and Matt Papa, and classical group New Irish Arts.

Throughout the tour the Gettys featured selections from their Grammy-nominated album Confessio: Irish American Roots, which they described as a “love letter to Northern Ireland.”

The record includes Celtic and folk arrangements of classic hymns alongside original repertoire.

Many of the songs featured on the tour were first performed at the Sing! Conference in Nashville, which the Gettys founded in 2017.

The event, taking its name from the Gettys' book Sing! How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church, has grown into an annual music festival attended by thousands both in Nashville and online.

The Sing! World Tour will continue in the upcoming years, with the Gettys planning to lead the singing at the Fourth Lausanne Congress in Seoul, South Korea in 2024, and to host concerts in Latin America and Africa in 2025.

The Gettys have also announced a Christmas tour throughout the US in December 2023 including appearances at Carnegie Hall and the Museum of the Bible.

Speaking as the Gettys first world tour concluded at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, Keith Getty OBE, said: “It was an utter privilege and delight on our first visit to Australia to fill the Sydney Opera House with congregational singing—hymns old and new that stir our hearts with the beauty of Christ.”

Kristyn Getty, added: “Our debut performance at the Sydney Opera House has been a humbling experience. To stand on such a well-known stage and yet remember that each of us is merely a jar of clay in the hands of the Lord, a vessel for his truth and goodness and beauty – and to hear the global people of God raise their voices in awe and wonder at the good news of Christ, has been nothing short of extraordinary.”