Silvia Beatriz Kohan (March 23, 1948 – June 27, 2003) was an

Argentine-American Argentine Americans ( es, argentino-estadounidense) are Americans whose full or partial origin is in Argentina. They are part of the broader Hispanic and Latino American category, and make up a scant 0.1% of the U.S. population, compared to lar ...

singer and songwriter, based in California.

Early life

Silvia Kohan was born in

Buenos Aires, Argentina Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, the daughter of Sofia Kohan. Her family was Jewish, with Eastern European origins. The Kohan family moved to the United States in 1957. She and her sister Feliza were raised in Pasadena and Los Angeles. She attended Alexander Hamilton High School.

Career

Kohan toured internationally with the musical production ''

Up With People Up with People (UWP) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Up with People stages song and dance performances promoting themes such as multiculturalism, racial equality, and positive thinking. History Archives The UWP Archives i ...

'' for five years in the 1960s. She performed in musicals ''Zorba the Freek'' (1971) and ''Misa del Mar'' (1972), at the Venice Free Theater. She also sang with the Los Angeles All-City Choir. She was a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

-style singer and songwriter who performed mainly in California, especially for LGBT, Jewish, and Latinx audiences. Her signature original song was "Fat Girl Blues". She released one album, ''Finally Real'' (

Dancing Cat Records Dancing Cat Records is a record label founded in 1983 by pianist George Winston to publish both his music and music in the Hawaiian slack-key guitar style. Its mission later expanded to cover other Hawaiian musicians. Dancing Cat's albums were o ...

, 1984), produced by pianist

George Winston George Winston (born December 26, 1949) is an American pianist, guitarist, harmonicist, and record producer. He was born in Michigan and raised mainly in Montana ( Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. He is best known fo ...

. Critics appreciated her "strong, expressive voice" but considered the songs and arrangements to be "soulless and forgettable".

Personal life and legacy

She died in 2003, from

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

, survived by her partner, Ruth. Her papers, including journals, scrapbooks, correspondence, photographs, costumes, and recordings, are part of the

GLBT Historical Society The GLBT Historical Society (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society) (formerly Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California; San Francisco Bay Area Gay and Lesbian Historical Society) maintains an extensive collection ...

's collections. She was the subject of

Nomy Lamm Naomi Elizabeth "Nomy" Lamm (born September 1, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter and political activist. Lamm has described herself as a "bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee." Her left foot was amputated at age three, to be fitted with a l ...

's multimedia show (or "musical mind-meld with video documentation") at the

in 2010.

References

External links

* E. G. Crichton
"Pairs: Nomy Lamm and Silvia Kohan"
part of ''Lineage: Matchmaking in the Archive'' at the GLBT Historical Society. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohan, Silvia 1948 births 2003 deaths Singers from Buenos Aires Jewish Argentine musicians Argentine LGBT singers American LGBT singers