Laura Bernay is renowned for her “cross-over” styles of singing in several genres from jazz and cabaret to world music and classical. American-born with French Canadian parents and married to a Frenchman she is right at home with French mélodie.
Laura has had a long relationship with chanson having been the French coach for the West Australian Opera, she studied French at the Alliance Française and at UWA and is fluent in the language. She is a spirited singer with a bright, flexible voice and a firm grasp of the French cabaret style. Laura is backed by the fabulous Mike Nelson Quartet featuring Mike Nelson on piano, bassist Murray Wilkins, the amazing reeds man Matt Styles and the vibrant Chris Tarr on drums.
The show is mixed with Laura’s classic chansons from Edith Piaf to Cole Porter and explores the contrasts of Paris seen through the eyes and ears of the American composers and of Parisienne singers such as Edith Piaf, Charles Trenet and Dalida. The soirée will include songs by Porter, Poulenc, Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, and many more of the great classics that Laura sings in perfect French with charm and flair.
aura’s elegant and natural delivery allows the craft of the composers whose work she performs, to shine through.