Opera star Anita Rachvelishvili to join rock band Profusion for Batumi seaside concert

World-famous opera singer Anita Rachvelishvili will join Italian rock band Profusion and Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert of diverse musical genres on Black Sea city Batumi later this month.

The Georgian mezzo-soprano, who performed for the French National Day celebrations in a Paris concert broadcast to millions of viewers last month, will sing at the Piazza Batumi town square on August 23.

See a profile for Anita Rachvelishvili as Amneris, the role she is due to perform in summer opera festival Choregies d'Orange today:

The two-part concert will be led by conductor Nikoloz Rachveli, recently named as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in Georgia, and also involve Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra.

In part one of the event, classical music will be on agenda for the two Georgian artists and the Tbilisi-based orchestra.

Rachvelishvili will perform arias from popular opera productions on the square next to the city's coastline.

The featured artists will then entertain the audience by a "completely different" performance with Profusion, a progressive rock band based in Siena.

Siena-based Profusion will appear at Piazza Batumi alongside Georgian artists. Photo: Profusion band Facebook page.

Featuring Georgian-born Vladimer Sichinava on drums, the five-member band also includes Gionatan Caradonna on keyboards, Davide Pepi on guitar, Duccio Pellati on bass as well as vocals from Mattia Mattei.

Founded in 2002, the group has performed with Rachvelishvili in past, with their 2015 appearance marking the release of the band's most recent album Phersu.

Before the Batumi event, the Georgian opera star is set for an appearance at the summer opera festival Choregies d'Orange in France later today, where she will perform the role of Amneris in the classic Aida.