BY KAREN BOSSICK

Hardly a Christmas concert ends without some sort of rendition of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”

Theatre and cabaret singer Adrienne Haan will do a deep dive into the music and life of Berlin during two concerts paying tribute to the prolific composer this coming week at The Argyros in Ketchum.

The Dec. 10 show, sponsored by Sun Valley resident Trudi Schneider, has been sold out since Otober. But there are still seats available for the Dec. 11 show at https://www.theargyros.org/calendar/adrienne-hann-a-celebration-of-the-life-and-music-of-irving-berlin-1

News anchor Walter Cronkite praised Irving Berlin for helping to “write the story of this country, capturing the best of who we are and the dreams that shape our lives.” COURTESY Caroline Emmet Bourgois, granddaughter of Irving Berlin and the Universal Music Publishing Group

The concert will include some holiday songs, like Berlin’s “White Christmas.” It includes two Yiddish songs as Haan recounts how Berlin grew up speaking Yiddish. And it will include other songs that made Irvin Berlin an Academy Award, Grammy Award and Tony Award winner.

“It’s my personal tribute to Irving Berlin, his life and music,” said Haan, who is about to become a Sun Valley resident after having performed in the valley in the past. “I start the journey with his birth in Imperial Russia in 1888 and tell how he went from a poor Jewish boy singing in the synagogue choir to take the Red Star Line in Antwerp to Ellis Island. And here he became one of the most popular American composers of his time, living the American dream.”

Berlin never learned to read music, Haan said. He could only play in the key of F-sharp—he couldn’t play an instrument. He came up with the melodies and had arrangers take over.

Haan, who was born in Essen, West Germany, holds dual citizenship in Germany and Luxembourg, She moved to the United States in 1997 where she studied with such actors as Kevin Spacey at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and furthered her studies at the Juilliard School in New York and the Cologne School of Music and Dance.

Hailed as “the First Lady of Cabaret” by a New York City entertainment guide, Haan has performed music of the 1920s and ‘30s, jazz, blues, swing, klezmer, American Songbook and Broadway in 13 different languages. She has performed with symphony orchestras around the world and has even been involved in diplomatic events using music to build bridges among nations.

This past weekend she performed a Tehorah show at Carnegie Hall commemorating the end of the Holocaust. She performed it at Carnegie in 2015 and 2023 in German, English, Yiddish and Hebrew, and she plans to perform it June 30, 2026, at the Wood River Jewish Community synagogue.

Haan became interested in Irving Berlin when she learned of his connections to the Grand Dutchess of Luxembourg. In fact, his “Call Me Madam,” starring Ethel Merman, was based on Pearl Meister, the first ambassador to the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg. Even the house which Berlin lived in on East River until his death in 1989 belonged to the Grand Dutchess of Luxembourg.

The idea for the Irving Berlin concerts was conceived by Laurence Pierron, who worked for the consulate general of Luxembourg and created by Haan. She’ll sing a few duets with Richard Danley, her music director for 23 years. She’ll have three costume changes.

“People know ‘God Bless America,‘ “White Christmas,’ ‘Call Me Madam.’ But I’m not sure if most people know that Irving’s real name was Israel Beilin,” said Haan. “His name was changed by a printing error in 1907, and he decided to keep the misprinted name because it sounded so American.”

After 28 years of living in New York City, Haan is making the move to Sun Valley just before Christmas. She will perform at Jazz in the Park on June 28, 2026. Then, she plans to take part in Laughing Stock Theater’s Sun Valley Shakespeare in the Park later that summer.

“I came to Sun Valley in 2024 and fell in love with the place. I’ve been there 65 times now and want to be more involved in the community,” said Haan, who last year performed a cabaret show at The Argyros.

Rest assured Haan won’t be here 365 days of the year. No sooner than she settles into her new home then she’ll be off—to Germany, Luxembourg and even Cape Town for a string of performances.

But she can’t wait to get back.

“I’m a complete outdoor person—a hiker, biker and skier--and I don’t have to tell you how safe and clean and beautiful Sun Valley is,” she said. “It’s a very unique community—a big artsy community in which the people are so enthusiastic and supportive of one another.”

“I’ve been to many places in the world. And I’ve always said that if didn’t live in New York I would live in Austin, Texas, where I have family and friends. But Sun Valley is just a magic place.”