Patricia Kaas to Celebrate 50th Anniversary of Edith Piaf's Passing with North American Tour, 9/12-21

Although this year marks the 50th anniversary of Edith Piaf's passing, no French singer since has matched her level of international success. The singer and actress Patricia Kaas, whose first major breakthrough took place 26 years ago-and who has since sold 19 million albums worldwide and won six Victoires de la Musique (the French equivalent of GRAMMYs), 2 World Music Awards and over other 25 distinctions and awards-may be the female artist to have come closest. As a unique and charismatic interpreter of songs and live performer, too, Kaas has proven a worthy bearer of the Piaf torch. Kaas pays direct, emotional tribute to the legendary singer with the multimedia concert Kaas Chante Piaf, which comes to North America this September on a 45-country, 150-show tour of prestigious opera houses, concert halls and theaters, including a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall last November. The North American shows immediately precede three nights at Paris' Olympia.

North American shows include San Francisco's Masonic Temple (September 12), Los Angeles' Pantages (September 14), Montreal's Place des Arts (September 17), and New York's Town Hall (September 20 & 21). Kaas will also perform in the multi-artist Piaf concert that kicks off Francofolies New York, the first New York iteration of France's premier music festival, September 19 at New York's Beacon Theatre.

In conjunction with the tour of the live show, Kaas released an acclaimed Kaas chante Piaf album, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, to acclaim last year. In a four-star review, All Music Guide said, "By interpreting these songs in her own way, Kaas makes plain that Piaf's music is not only a root source of inspiration, but a breathing, evolving, entity that defies the limits of time and offers instruction for French chanson as it continues to evolve." Reviewing the album and the tour-launching show at London's Royal Albert Hall, Clive Davis wrote in The Times (UK), "Trying to stay awake during the new Bond film at the weekend, it occurred to me that the versatile French pop star Patricia Kaas might have been a better choice for the theme song. Adele can turn up the volume; Kaas, as she demonstrates on Kaas chante Piaf, her audacious new album of Edith Piaf songs, brings depth and nuance to the table. No wonder there was a frisson in the audience as she made a rare London appearance at the start of a world tour."

The live show features innovative stage design, including dramatic lighting, a dancer and a video installation with extraordinary, never-before-seen images of Piaf. The music is arranged by the two-time Golden Globe-nominated composer Abel Korzeniowski, a protégé of famed composer Christopher Penderecki. Korzeniowski is one of the foremost rising talents in film music today. Since he moved from Krakow to Los Angeles to work on the George Clooney, Peter Berg, and Steven Soderbergh-produced film PU-239, Korzeniowskihas continued music to 30 Days Of Night, Battle For Terra, What We Take From Each Other, Tickling Leo, Confessions Of A Go-Go Girl, Copernicus' Star, Tom Ford's A Single Man and Madonna's W.E.

Patricia Kaas became a fixture of the international music scene with the release of her song "Mademoiselle chante le blues" in 1987. Since then, she has not only released a string of award-winning and bestselling albums, but also played memorable film roles, including performing Jeremy Irons in 2002′s And now...Ladies & Gentlemen, directed by Claude Lelouch. She proved a singular creator of theatricalized concerts in 2008 with Kabaret, a personal and passionate tribute to 1930s cabaret that she performed 145 times in 35 countries. The Kabaret album sold over 800,000 copies worldwide.

Photo Credit: Florent Schmidt