Three of the rising American stars of music in France are female. They offer three different styles all inspiring and uplifting. They are all performing in the Paris area this November.
Karina Canellakis
Born in 1981 in New York City in a family of musicians, Karina Canellakis studied at the Julliard School and made a name for herself as a violinist. While at the Berlin Philharmonic Academy, Simon Rattle noticed her interest in conducting and encouraged her to continue in this direction. She worked with the Chicago Orchestra, then won the 2016 Georg Solti Prize while an assistant with the Dallas Orchestra. She was subsequently invited to conduct many prestigious orchestras in North America, Europe and Australia. Her performances and positions are frequently « first female » accomplishments in the world of conducting dominated by men. In November she is in Paris at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Karina Canellakis where she will be conducting the Orchestre National de France and the Chœur de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux in a performance of one of the most poignant lyrical «scenes» in the Russian repertoire, Eugène Onéguine. This opera, based on a poem by Pushkin and with music by Tchaikovsky is a production revisited by Stéphane Braunschweig. It will be sung in Russian, with French and English subtitles. For discount tickets (-15%) use this link Tickets.
Robin McKelle
A resident of Boulogne-Billancourt, hailing from Rochester, New York, Vocalist Robin McKelle delves into the catalogue of some of the most celebrated women of song, interpreting these masterworks through the lens of the jazz idiom. On Alterations, her latest album, McKelle follows in a long tradition of female song interpreters, lending her sultry vocal stylings to classics by a diverse list of female innovators including Dolly Parton, Sade, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Janis Joplin, Carol King, Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell, and Lana Del Ray. A savvy songwriter and a powerhouse vocalist, McKelle has long found a home where soul, jazz,pop, gospel, blues and the American Songbook cross paths. In her live performances, she exudes a bandleader’s moxie that recalls the Rat Pack era. While comparisons to Ella Fitzgerald are common because of her warm alto voice, her early influences were mostly Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner and Janis Joplin. McKelle’s voice mirrors the power of those three vocal titans while maintaining the refined nuances of Fitzgerald. Unfortunately we just missed her concert in Boulogne, but her next performance of music in France is nearby in Cormeilles-en-Parisis on November 9th.
Robyn Bennett
It is in Algiers Point, one of the oldest neighborhoods of New Orleans that Robyn’s album GLOW was made. Inspired by the sounds, images, smells, vibrations of the Big Easy (the nickname of New Orleans), Robyn Bennett and her accomplice Ben van Hille started writing GLOW with the common desire to return to their roots, to make music together, music that comes from the soul, that sounds authentic and goes straight to the gut. Like the music she sings, writes and composes, Robyn Bennett is a burst of joy with great sensitivity. In line with the great American voices, the beautiful redhead radiates contagious music, catchy melodies, simple and touching poetry. An exceptional voice with a powerful and sensual tone. Her latest album « Move » is part one of three, written during the « forced hibernation » of the confinement when she was in the French countryside, on an island in the Atlantic and in Brooklyn. In this musical journey to the confines of jazz, swing and soul, Robyn succeeds in renewing the genre with finesse and modernity. Robyn is currently touring her music in France and will be at the Maroquinerie in Paris 12-November.
All images are from the official websites.
