Inspired by the audience

SANDPOINT — Putting on a concert is a shared experience between the artist and the audience, said singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo.

"I love being on stage and I love people from all kind of origin," Kidjo said in an email interview with the Daily Bee.

"The audience and their support inspire me."

Those who attend her Festival at Sandpoint performance Thursday evening will get a chance to become part of that inspiration.

Kidjo was born in Benin, located in West Africa, and through all her travels around the world she has never been to Sandpoint before.

She is looking forward to coming to North Idaho because she "loves discovering new places." Kidjo said she doesn't necessarily have a favorite place she has traveled to but she does have favorite venues such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and Royal Albert Hall because she said the sound in those places is "beautiful."

Her music, which she sings in the Beninese language as well as English, is difficult to describe, she said, because it has a Beninese feel mixed with several different styles and influences that reflect the story of her life as she traveled continent to continent. Kidjo said there is a legend in her family that says she was singing before she could talk.

“Music has always been a part of my life,” Kidjo said. "Apparently my aunt was singing to my mom when she was pregnant, so I have been used to the Beninese song even before my birth.”

But her "big break" arrived when she was 6 years old. Her mother had a theater company and one of the young actresses got sick. Kidjo was "pushed" onto the stage to sing the girl's part because she had the song — and the entire show — memorized.

"I was scared to death, but then people started laughing and it made me feel at home," Kidjo said. "I haven't left the stage since."

Kidjo travels back to Benin often to see her family, including her mother who turns 90 years old this year. She is fond of the African culture because she said it is "so rich and strong," and her mission is to bring awareness of that culture to the rest of the world.

Along with performing at some of the most famous concert halls in the world and being featured in publications such as Vanity Fair, Kidjo has won three Grammy awards for her powerful music in the albums "Djin Djin," "Eve" and "Sings." However, when asked how she feels about her many accomplishments, Kidjo responded: "As Woody Allen says, I don't worry about the past, but I worry about the future because I intend to live there for awhile."

She is always looking forward to new musical projects and collaborations, she said. She has done collaborations with singers such as Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel and Philip Glass, but said there is many more artists with whom she would like to sing.

"Life is so short to be doing the same music all the time," Kidjo said.

Festival information and tickets to Thursday's show is available online at www.festivalatsandpoint.com.