Cultural Exchange

When in Rome: Songs of the ‘La Dolce Vita’ Era Starring Lua Hadar with Twist

Friday, June 17, 2016
Italian Cultural Center of San Francisco

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016 
Feinstein’s at the Nikko Hotel Union Square

 

Quoted by French filmmaker Christian Jeunet in his documentary San Francisco Beyond the Postcard.

 

 

 

 

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AMERICAN JAZZ STANDARDS MASTER CLASS IN FRANCE
April 25-26, 2015, Lille, France, in collaboration with French bassist Albin Suffys, San Francisco-based francophone teaching artists Lua Hadar and David Austin taught a Master Class on the Rhythm and Interpretation of American Jazz Standards. Here’s the slideshow:

Italian Press for Cabaret Comico 2013-2015

 

CABARET COMICO 2015 – Cabaret Comico moves to the heart of San Francisco’s North Beach, The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club, showcasing the talents of 15 local singers and songwriters in a comic cabaret context, for in Italy, all cabaret is comic. The Songwriter’s Showcase at Club Peña Pachamama was the second event of the mini-festival produced and hosted by entertainer Lua Hadar, with the collaboration of the Italian Cultural Institute & Dallo Sciamano allo Showman, the Italian Festival of Original Comic Song.

CABARET COMICO 2014 – Society Cabaret presents the 2014 edition of Cabaret Comico: A salute to comic singers and songwriters. Two different shows hosted by Society Cabaret’s Director of Entertainment G. Scott Lacy with vocalist and emcee Lua Hadar. GUEST STARS: OCT 17, 8pm – Candace Forest, Paul Frantz, Diane Merlino, Nancy Schimmel, and Bobby Weinapple, Beth Wilmurt. OCT 18, 8pm – Marilyn Cooney, Bill Cooper, Barry Lloyd, Lauren Mayer, Darlene Popovic, and Ray Renati.

CABARET COMICO 2013 SUCCESS BRINGS 2-DAY MINI-FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR WITH ITALIAN PARTNERS

TWIST GOES TO BANGKOK
Lua Hadar with Twist in Bangkok, 2008, Bangkok 10th International Festival of Dance and Music

BRIDGE TO BANGKOK AND JAPAN – A selection from the 9-part Series Building Bridges

PARIS SWAN BAR PREVIEW LEADS TO SAN FRANCISCO DEBUT of C’est Magnifique

MERCI, PARIS! THE SWAN BAR IN MONTPARNASSE

MAINTAINING TIES OF CULTURAL AND ARTISTIC FRIENDSHIP
MAKING NEW FRIENDS IN ITALY AND IN FRANCE
PHOTOS, VIDEO AND BLOG – Slow Down and Chew: a Cultural Exchange 

Since my first stolen kiss with an Italian bellhop at the age of 15, I knew cultural exchange was for me.

Ten years later, as an aspiring NY actor moonlighting in the travel business, I’d hop on a plane at a moment’s notice. I loved flexing my cultural muscles, meeting people on trains, trotting out my languages, trying to pass for anything but American.

When these cross-cultural encounters connected to theatre and music, I became rapturous. This happened for the first time when I performed in Russia with a college theatre troupe, entering a world that later provided an opportunity to tour in Italian Theatre for Youth for five years.

I collected masks from many countries, expressing my fascination with theatre, dance and story. Folk music in different languages filled my shelves. I learned a mask dance in Bali, heard the koto in Japan, sat in on a mixing session in Milano.

In the last ten years, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to sing in Italy, France and Thailand. Equally as important as the music have been the chances to befriend the people: to talk and eat and drink together. To understand, even across a conversation fractured by language, that values are held in common, that unity across cultures is possible.

I thirst for these moments. This yearning has manifested in my “magnum opus,” (which I say with a wry smile) Like A Bridge: a live studio concert in seven languages plus a bonus feature — the creation of which involved songwriters and performers from Madagascar and South Africa to Japan, France, Brazil and beyond.

The gift of our middle years is to realize that we do not have forever to do what we want to do. The circle of life continues relentlessly and the loss of dear ones makes me even more determined to connect to those far away who matter much to me.

Thus, seven weeks ago, I embarked on a journey long delayed. An Odyssey, both professional and personal. To not only see those friends and colleagues spread over three countries in Europe, but also to discover new places I had not seen before, to adventure, but no longer in my swashbuckling youthful style, more quietly.

Years of stress built up, I had resolved to SLOW DOWN AND CHEW – and this I did. Not all the news was happy with friends. Some were happy, some had conquered problems, some were dealing with them. Some had experienced loss and pain.

But this journey of the heart and mind has refreshed my spirit. And I am so grateful.

If you want to see the story in pictures, including footage of our show in Paris, please enjoy the slide show, underscored by three selections from the Like A Bridge project:

Scriabin Etude in D# Minor; arranged by Jason Martineau
San Francisco, by Maxime Le Forestier
Beyond the Sea/La Mer by Charles Trenet

You’ll hear:
In addition to the French vocals, Jason Martineau on piano, Dan Feiszli on bass,
Celso Alberti on drums, Ian Dogole on udu (San Francisco) and Dave Miotke on
jazz accordion (La Mer).

You’ll see:

VERONA, ITALY
Singing at a book signing at Villa Verita, owned by descendants of Dante Alighieri
Singing at the reunion of theatre performers and arts administrators

BRENO AND VALLECAMONICA, ITALY
Reunion with producers of the Festival of the Shaman and the Showman, Nini Giacomelli and Bibi Bertelli, at the Centro Culturale Teatro Camuno,

BOLOGNA, ITALY
Reunion with Grammy-nominated musician John Serry.

PARIS, FRANCE
Rehearsal and Performance at the Swan Bar with Sheldon Forrest and Albin Suffys
Exclusive footage of the Paris Gay Pride Parade
Fête de la Musique on June 21
Renowned underground music cave Chez Georges, which featured our CD, Like A Bridge
The new American Musical Theatre Live in Paris
Author and man-about-town Terrance Gelenter

VIENNE JAZZ FESTIVAL, FRANCE
with special thanks to my partner Hamilton Everts

LE QUINTANEL, BLANDAS, FRANCE
Cultural Exchange with theatre company Les Chantiers de L’Inédit and bassist Albin Suffys

Footage of Venice, Milano, Barcelona, Granada, Andalusia, Burgundy, Beaujolais and Provence regions of France, Arles, Luzern and Zurich, Switzerland, and Tina Turner’s Wedding as seen from the Lake of Zurich.

C’EST MAGNIFIQUE PREVIEWS AT THE SWAN BAR IN MONTPARNASSE PARIS

June 29, 2013
Lua Hadar returns to the Swan Bar with the preview of her new show:
C’est Magnifique
featuring Cole Porter, famous French songs and an international love tour

Swan Bar
165, Bd du Montparnasse
75006 Paris

BRIDGES PROJECT HOSTS STUDY TEAM FROM FRANCE
As part of the Bridges Project, Studio NPG hosted a cultural exchange from October 14-30, 2012. Two musicians from Lille, France, with whom we performed in 2010, were in residence at Studio NPG to research the San Francisco Jazz scene and to meet and jam with American musicians.

Kathy Holly interviews Lua and French exchange guests on her Pacific Coast TV show, “Spotlight”