Hugues Aufray Comes To The Walt Disney Concert Hall For One Night Only 8/21

In the second year of the concert series, The Blue Ribbon Presents Global Pop at the Music Center continues to celebrate the performances of popular artists from around the globe. Presented at the iconic Walt Disney Concert Hall, Global Pop at the Music Center features some of the most celebrated international pop music stars performing today. The third, and final, concert scheduled in this year’s series is modern day French troubadour, Hugues Aufray, for one night only,  Friday, August 21, 2009 at 8:00 p.m.
 
Global Pop at the Music Center is presented by The Blue Ribbon. Founded by Dorothy Chandler in 1968, The Blue Ribbon is a support group of women leaders serving the Center, its resident companies and its arts education programs.
 
With French adaptations of Bob Dylan's songs and a long and illustrious career spanning five decades, Hugues Aufray’s music has very much become engrained in popular culture. In 1961, Hugues met fellow folk singer, Bob Dylan, in New York, and in 1965 released his best-known Dylan cover, “Hugues chante Dylan,” an avant-garde album for French youth. In 1995 he released his second Dylan cover, “Aufray Trans Dylan.”
 
For more than forty years his songs “Santiano,” “Celine” and “Stewball,” have been sung by both children and adults alike - proof that his music conquers the hearts of a very diverse audience. Over the course of his career, Hugues has recorded more than 250 songs, including numerous gold records, and has toured extensively in Europe, Canada, and Hong Kong. And now, this French music icon is making his grand debut here at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
 
Tickets for Hugues Aufray are priced from $35 - $90 and are available at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Box Office, 111 S Grand Ave. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster Phone Charge at (800) 982-2787, at all Ticketmaster outlets, and at www.ticketmaster.com. For groups of 15 or more, email globalpop@musiccenter.org.

For more information about this, and all Global Pop at the Music Center engagements, visit www.musiccenter.org.
 
Hugues Aufray was born in 1929 in Neuilly sur Seine, a well-to-do suburb of Paris.  The Aufray family fled to the countyside in the south of France during the German occupation, which is where the young Hugues first developed a love for nature and animals. After his parent’s divorce, he moved to Madrid with his father, and was enrolled in a French high school where he earned his baccalaureat. After graduation, Hughes returned to Paris to enroll in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He had his sights set on becoming a painter. Since his financial means were limited, he took to singing in the streets to make ends meet.
 
In 1949, he did his requisite military service in the Mountain Infantry and was stationed in the Alps. After leaving service, he got married in 1951 to a dancer named Helene, with whom he had two daughters.  During this time, he performed in Parisian bars and cabarets. He sang songs composed by Georges Brassens, for whom he had great admiration, as well as songs borrowed from Latin-American folklore.
 
His singing career took an upward swing in 1959, when friends encouraged him to participate in an amateur singing contest. He performed the song "le Poinçonneur des Lilas," by a then-unknown composer, Serge Gainsbourg, which turned out to be a huge hit. He subsequently signed a contract with Barclay records and recorded his first single, "Y'avait Fanny qui chantait."
 
Soon after, Maurice chevalier's asked Hugues to come to New York and sing "Avril à Paris" at NEW YORK AU BAL. On a return trip to New York in the very early ‘60s, he met the legendary folks group Peter, Paul and Mary, as well as a young, yet-to-be-discovered, singer/songwriter named Bob Dylan. Aufray instantly related to Dylan and his unique brand of music, so much so, that when he returned to France, he brought with him a number of Dylan songs, that he hoped to one day adapt to French.

In the early 60s, in the midst of the yéyé period (French Sixties Music), Aufray made a name for himself in the world of French pop music with his distinct folk music style. He had his first hit with "Santiano," which was released in '61. He then set off on his first concert tour of France, where his concerts were always at capacity.
 
Aufray continued to pursue the project that was near and dear to him, the adaptation of Bob Dylan's songs into French. "Aufray chante Dylan" was released in 1965 and produced the hits songs "L'homme orchestre" and "la Fille du nord". As an advocate for peace and anti-racism, he sang at the Palais des Sports in Paris at the invitation of Harry Belafonte and performed "les Crayons de couleur" for Martin Luther King Jr.

His songs continued to gain popularity among school children, especially the beloved "Celine" and "Stewball." Never without his guitar, he was regarded as folk hero and motivator for change. His songs told of his love of nature and animals, and conveyed messages of peace and harmony, which were atypical themes in popular French music at this time.
 
In the late-60s and throughout the 70s, he intentionally stayed out of the limelight and only sporadically performed and recorded. Instead, he spent quality time on his farm with his family. He farmed his land, grew lavender and raised goats.  It wasn't until the mid-80s that he began performing again on a large scale. He toured Africa and was part of the campaign "Chanteurs sans frontières" (singers without borders) campaign, a fund-raising effort to support Ethiopia.  To celebrate thirty years in the recording business, he released an album with sixteen of his greatest hits in 1990.
 
Aufray always loved to work with children and prided himself on writing songs that they could
easily sing. In that vein, he released "Little Troubadour" in 1991, an album recorded with the
Chorale des Cherubins de Sarcelles. The following year has a triumphant one for Hugues. with
extensive tours of Europe and Canada, plus the release of a "best of" album that quickly went gold.

In late 1992, his passion for horses led him to create an equestrian show for the Ecole Nationale d'Equitation with a cast of more than 50 children, actors and riders. They performed during the annual Grand Gala of the Cadre Noir of Saumur in the Loire Valley.
 
Over the years, Hugues remained passionate about the words and music of Bob Dylan, who he stayed in touch with since their first meeting in the early 60s. In 1995, he released "Aufray Trans Dylan," an album of 26 classic Dylan songs adapted into French. Hugues adapted all the lyrics himself. Renaud took part in the recording of "Au coeur de mon pays" (Heartland). Immediately after the album’s release, he performed these Dylan songs at the Casino de Paris, and then took the show on tour.  In October, a live album from the Casino de Paris concert hit the market.
 
At the age of 70, he recorded an album with Celtic and Hispanic tones, "Chacun sa mer" which came out in 1999. On this record he continued to explore themes that are dear to him, like peace, social equality, and love of the land and the sea. For the last decade, the singer has continued to record on a regular basis, as well as perform at festivals and concerts all across Europe, and has put a special emphasis on charity events and social causes.
 
Aufray always felt indebted to Felix Leclerc, the French Canadian star, who at the start of his career inspired him to sing in French. In 2005, Aufray at last paid tribute to Leclerc by releasing an album of cover versions of the Quebecois star's songs, entitled "Hugues Aufray chante Félix Leclerc," included such classics as "Moi mes souliers," "Le petit bonheur" and "J'ai deux montagnes à traverser."
 
Hugues has been honored in many ways throughout his career. He was awarded with the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (1985), Officier des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and Chevalier du Merite Agricole (1994). He has lent his name to several schools in France, proof, once again, of his overwhelming popularity with both young and old.

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