BY KAREN BOSSICK

Adrienne Haan has performed her Holocaust remembrance concert Tehorah at Carnegie Hall twice. And she’s toured it through Paraguay, Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, Chile, South Africa and The Czech Republic.

And on Tuesday, June 30, she will bring what she calls a “peace concert” to the Wood River Jewish Community synagogue in a performance she hopes will resonate far beyond any single faith or culture.

"I don't want people to think this is just a Jewish thing," said Haan, who was hailed as "the First Lady of Cabaret" by a New York City entertainment guide. "It's the story behind it that makes people realize this is my story too."

Tehorah, which means "pure" in Hebrew, is a musical journey Haan wrote in 2015 that traces the arc of Jewish life from the vibrant cabarets of 1920s Berlin through the ghettos of Warsaw and Krakow to the founding of modern Israel.

She tells the story through song — quirky cabaret numbers, deeply political Weimar-era compositions and heart-wrenching Yiddish melodies — weaving narration, poetry and direct address to the audience between each piece.

"When you're in the concert you will see that there is a red line," she said. "A so-called democracy is more fragile than we think."

Born in Essen, West Germany, Haan holds dual citizenship in Germany and Luxembourg. She moved to the United States in 1997, where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Juilliard School in New York and the Cologne School of Music and Dance.

Over an 18-year solo career she has performed with symphony orchestras around the world, singing her song in 13 different languages. And she has been involved in diplomatic events using music to build bridges among nations.

She describes Tehorah as a peace concert, and this performance is being presented under the patronage of the German Consulate General in San Francisco. Pianist Richard Danley and American-Israeli violinist Leerone Hakami are flying in from New York to perform with her.

"It can happen to you, it can happen to anyone," Haan said of the concert's themes of rights eroded, freedoms threatened and the slow creep of authoritarianism. "We live in a very protected place. And people sometimes don't really feel it — that things are changing around them."

The songs, she emphasized, are performed in English so audiences can understand every word, with some German textures woven in. The show moves from the liberal energy of the Weimar Republic through the devastating destruction Hitler brought to that culture, into the deep sorrow of the European ghettos, and finally toward Israel and the hope that survived the worst humanity had to offer.

Proceeds from the evening will benefit Jazz in the Park in Ketchum, a cause close to Haan's heart that kicks off July 21 at Ketchum’s Rotary Park.

She serves as the concert series' social media manager. And she will perform a completely different jazz show at Jazz in the Park on June 28. She calls that program "Till the End of Time," and it’s drawn from the Great American Songbook with pieces by George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and more.

"I want the money from my Tehorah concert to stay in the community," she said.

Haan is carving out a full summer in the Wood River Valley.

Beyond her two concerts, she is performing with Laughing Stock Theater’s Sun Valley Shakespeare in the Park in two roles. She’ll play Gremio, the wealthy elderly suitor of Bianca in Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." And she’ll play Roger Sherman, the Connecticut delegate to the Second Continental Congress, in "1776."

Performing "1776" in the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence carries particular weight for Haan, who was struck to learn that many lines in the script were taken directly from the historical record of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

"The lines were actually really said by Franklin, by Adams, by Jefferson," she said. "This makes it very authentic. It's a true story and it's an important story."

Both her roles in “Taming of the Shrew” and “1776” are male roles, which delights her.

"This summer I can really show my wide spectrum," she said. "A soloist writing her own shows, a straight theater performer in Shakespeare, playing an old man, then playing a young man in a musical."

She is also teaching a master class in song interpretation for the Sun Valley Music Festival’s Music Institute, working with students ages 16 to 20. Her approach is entirely hands-on: No lectures, no leaflets, just perform. She has students sing their piece, then redirects them with unexpected choices to test how well they take direction.

"I might say, ‘Okay, this is a heart-wrenching aria about death — now make it the funniest thing you've ever heard," she said. "It's nonsense, but in auditions you are asked to do things that make no sense. I want to see what they do with it."

When she is not on stage or in rehearsal, Haan hikes the mountains every day. She is a self-described outdoor freak and an adventurous cook who draws on flavors from her life across three continents — she and her husband split their time between New York, Cape Town and Germany, spending at least three months each year in South Africa where her parents bought a home in 2008.

"I don't really follow recipes," she said. "I have them all in my head. South African, Indian, German, French, Italian — you name it. The best part is cooking for friends."

IF YOU GO:

Tehorah starts at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 30, at the Wood River Jewish Community synagogue. The concert is open to all ages, backgrounds and denominations.

Seating is limited and an ID is required to enter. General admission tickets are $37.24 and are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/. Browse “Ketchum events.”