Yann-Fañch

Yann-Fañch Kemener, stage name of Jean-François Quémener, was a traditional Breton singer and an ethnomusicologist of the Breton repertoire, born on 7 April 1957 in Saint-Brieuc and who died on 16 March 2019 in Tréméven in Finistère.

A key figure in the revival of kan ha diskan (call and response singing) in the 1970s and 1980s, notably with Erik Marchand, he contributed to the perpetuation of traditional song transmission through his activity as a traditional singer, but also through his work collecting local oral tradition and transmitting the Breton language. He was initially influenced by Claudine Mazéas's recordings of gwerzioù by Marie-Josèphe Bertrand (known as Mme Bertrand), before developing his own style.

His diverse collaborations (within the group Barzaz but also with Dan Ar Braz, Didier Squiban, Alain Genty, Aldo Ripoche, Anne Auffret, Marcel Guilloux…) and his unique vocal timbre made him an emblematic figure of Breton singing.

He released numerous albums and sang at many festoù-noz. He was awarded the Order of the Ermine and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.