Iconic French singer Silvie Vartan, will perform on October 28 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture, a Sofia Music Enterprises press release said on October 16 2009.

Vartan was born near Sofia in 1944. Her father was a Bulgarian of Armenian descent.

The veteran singer will promote material from her latest album while committing herself to charity work after the show by visiting the Mother and Child House community centre in Mladost and Pirogov Hospital on Tsar Boris III Boulevard.

Her visit is part of the Silvie Vartan Bulgaria Association, which is primarily concerned with gathering funds and equipment for Bulgarian hospitals. Vartan, through her associates in Bulgaria, has provided medical equipment that has assisted newborn children in Bulgaria.

The Sofia concert will be part of the annual Gem Festival 2009, with the assistance of the Societe Generale Expressbank, commemorating its ninth anniversary in the country and organised by the SME.

Vartan was one of the first female rock stars in France. At the time, her performances often featured elaborate show-dance choreography. She made appearances on French and Italian TV, including the songs "Cette lettre-là" and "Irresistiblement"

In spite of suffering her second serious car accident in 1970, Vartan continued an intensive round of performing and recording. In 1976 she went disco with John Kongos' cover "Qu'est-ce qui fait pleurer les blondes?" with their joint effort topping the French chart for several weeks.

In 1990 Vartan gave a concert at NDK in Sofia, opening and closing with a Bulgarian song, perhaps deferring to her ancestry.