November 3, 2005

French Sensation Keren Ann Performs at MASS MoCA, December 3

(North Adams, Mass.)-- Alternative folk singer/songwriter Keren Ann will bring her thought-provoking, mellifluous sound to North Adams as part of MASS MoCA's Alternative Cabaret series on Saturday, December 3, at 8 PM. She'll perform in the museum's Club B-10 space, blending her sensual, almost whispery voice with the sounds of cello, mandolin, harmonica, electric bass and fiddle.

"Keren Ann creates bilingual chamber pop that suggests French Sixties chanteuse Francoise Hardy whispering ballads from the first Velvet Underground album," according to Rolling Stone which added that her latest album "overflows with slow-burning melancholy articulated by understated arrangements and the singer's withdrawn but emotionally precise hum of a voice."

With a Dutch-Javanese mother and Russian-Israeli father, born in Israel but moving to Holland and finally Paris before she was 11, Keren Ann boasts a substantial list of influences informing both her eloquent lyrics and unique musical sound. Russian literature, Jewish folk music, French poetry, and Bob Dylan have all given something to her rich music and songwriting, but her most important influence is Suzanne Vega for whom Keren Ann opened during the French portion of Vega's 2001 world tour. The fledgling performer even borrowed Vega's most famous title, Luka, for her debut album, "La Biographie de Luka Philipsen", the second part of the name coming from Keren Ann's maternal grandmother. The album garnered several Victoires nominations, the French equivalent of the Grammy. She co-wrote a number of songs for Henri Salvador's best-selling Chambre Avec Vue including hit song Jardin d'Hiver (Wintergarden). She recorded a French and English version of her second album, La Disaprition (The Disappearance). Her English debut, Not Going Anywhere, and bilingual follow up, Nolita, have found quick critical acclaim.

Tickets for Keren Ann are $14 in advance or $17 the day of the concert. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Adams, open from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M. Wednesday through Monday. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org