ORGANISERS of a York concert to celebrate the life and music of the late composer John Barry are inviting people who played alongside him in the 1950s and 1960s to attend.

They particularly want to extend their invitation to a pop star called Johnny De Little, who was a protégé of the York-born Oscar-winning composer in the 1960s and may have lived in the north-east of England in recent years.

People with any photographs or old programmes of John Barry performances are also being asked if they could be reproduced in a souvenir programme being created for the concert, which will be staged at York Barbican on Sunday, October 30.

Tickets for the event are selling well,with 650 already snapped up in five weeks, said Graham Bradbury, one of the organisers, He said Prima Vocal Ensemble & Millegro Singers had been added to the list of performers taking part, joining York Guildhall Orchestra, Railway Institute Band, The Steve Cassidy Band and soloist Jo Pears in paying their own tributes to Barry, who scored the music for countless James Bond movies and died earlier this year.

He said: “BBC Radio York’s popular presenters Adam Tomlinson and Elly Fiorentini will be hosting the event, which is in aid of the Lord Mayor of York’s Charities, York Against Cancer and York and District Mind.”

York Barbican just a short distance from the former Rialto, now the Mecca Bingo Hall in Fishergate, where Barry started his career. The Barry family, both in York and New York, have given their blessing and support for the concert.

Tickets, priced £22.50, are on sale at the Barbican box office. Anyone with programmes or photos which can be used in the souvenir programme, or who played alongside John Barry, should phone Mr Bradbury on 01904 708330.