Vagabond Opera is a group which embraces many styles: European Cabaret! Vintage Americana! Balkan Belly Dance! Neo-Classical Opera! Old World Yiddish Theater! The six-piece, Portland, Oregon-based Vagabond Opera is a major force in the cabaret style. Bohemian Cabaret ensemble Vagabond Opera is described by the Washington Post as “A band of ceaseless charisma, boundless energy, impeccable musicianship and more than a little touch of both the naughty and exotic.” The group delivers passionate offerings of Bohemian cabaret for young and old. Paris hot jazz, gut bucket swing, tangos, Ukrainian folk-punk ballads, klezmer and vigorous originals meet a world of riverboat gambling queens, Turkish belly dancers, and the enigmatic Marlene Dietrich.
Weaving elements of Kurt Weil, Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf with absurdist flair, theatrics and an old world mood, Vagabond Opera presents the new wave of opera–lusty voices singing in 13 languages and presenting a cabaret of rich musical phrasing, sparkling lyrics and indomitable stage presence, all played with exuberance, skill and a gritty Vagabond edge.
The band’s lineup features four vocalists, including trained operatic tenor and soprano vocals, accordion, tenor saxophone, clarinet, two cellos, stand-up bass, and drums. Guest performers and dancers often appear with the ensemble. Vagabond Opera is at the vanguard of a growing popularity in the Neo-cabaret phenomenon, and through their theatrical performances, lyrics in 13 languages, and an eclectic repertoire, they liberate opera from its usual construct, expanding musical and theatrical biodiversity. Vagabond Opera has performed all over the USA and in Europe.
They have been featured on NPR, in the Washington Post and Jazziz Magazine, and have shared stages and players with such acclaimed acts as Pink Martini, Devotchka, The Decembrists, Balkan Beat Box, Al Franken, and the Oregon Symphony. Vagabond opera has four full-length albums Vagabond Opera was created in 2002 by European-trained opera singer and composer Eric Stern. Then disillusioned with the classical opera world, Stern created a new context for opera: Performance on a more intimate scale incorporating not only opera but elements of Weimar Cabaret, Arabic and Balkan forms, and the original music that springs from the ensemble’s fertile creative work. This is not your granny’s opera, but a visceral artistic ensemble that features powerful instrumental and vocal performances coupled with a highly eclectic and theatrical experience.
Members of Vagabond Opera are:
Eric Stern, Jason Flores, As his Grzesik, Mark Burdon, Robin Jackson, Skip VonKuske, Dr. Xander Grrymander, Ursula Knudson
Eric Stern has appeared on NPR and performed at the Kennedy Center,The Great American Music Hall, Joe’s Pub in NYC in San Francisco, throughout the Northwest, and internationally from Portland to Paris to Poland.
Eric Stern is best known for being the founder and artistic director of Vagabond Opera, an ensemble that has achieved worldwide success. Vagabond Opera was created in 2002 by U.S. and European-trained opera singer and composer Eric Stern. Then disillusioned with the classical opera world, Stern created a new context for opera: Performance on a more intimate scale incorporating not only opera but elements of Weimar Cabaret, Arabic and Balkan forms, and the original music that springs from the ensemble’s fertile creative work.
Eric Stern is an active and prolific composer writing and arranging for the Vagabond Opera ensemble and other projects. In Portland he was commisioned in 2007 to compose the music for Tears Of Joy Puppet Theatre production of Pinocchio and most recently composed the full-length opera “Queen of Knives” which premiered in Portland.
Stern grew up wandering the aisles of The Wooden Shoe Books and Records (an anarchist collective bookstore that his parents helped found) listening to every record he could get his hands on, then went on to formal training in piano and opera.
He studied and performed opera in Philadelphia, New York and Paris and founded the Jewish Theater Project in New Mexico with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, where he helped produce Neshama, a Jewish arts festival. Eric Stern was the musical director for the show, writing several short musical pieces, one of the plays, and one full-length composition as well.
Prior to that, in the summer of 2000, he toured Canada where he, along with Mark Chavez and Shenoah Allen, performed Sabotage, a comedic tour-de-force that the trio wrote, to audiences in Albuquerque, New York City, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton, garnering major critical acclaim. Stern composed and performed the music for Sabotage.
A fine opera singer, Eric Stern has appeared in over thirty operas, including lead roles in La Boheme (Schaunard), Die Fledermaus (Dr. Falke), Gianni Schicchi (Gerardo), Carmen (El Dancairo) and the American Premiere of The Beggar’s Opera (Ben Lockitt). Eric is fluent in Jazz, Klezmer, Classical and Middle-Eastern idioms and his work has been enjoyed internationally
In the last several years he has studied the arabic and turkish repertoire receiving instruction from Souhail Kaspar (as well as performing onstage with the master percussionist), Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Elias and George Lammam and Souren Baronian which in turn led him to co-create The Flying Bokhara Orlestrah and to found Hazz Hazz Hulu.
He is passionate about Bulgarian accordion and has studied with Milen Slavov and Kalin Kirilov.
He has also returned to his Jewish roots and is a passionate lover and advocate of the Yiddish Language.
Stern is fluent in a variety of genres from jazz piano to Balkan accordion, to Opera. His compositions reflect his scope. Recently Stern was commissioned to compose for Portland’s own Tears Of Joy Theater production of “Pinocchio”.
Eric Stern appears on the Decemberist’s album Her Majesty and also performs as a soloist or with the Eric Stern Trio.Vagabond Opera’s latest CD is “Sing for Your Lives”. The CD includes Eastern European folk theater, classical grandeur, hot club act, and avant-garde Klezmer jams.Other CD’s include: “Get on the Train”, “Vagabond Opera”, “The Zeitgeist Beckons”.
Vagabond Opera’s performance schedule includes:
Feb. 2nd at 8:PM…Vagabond Opera in Traverse City, MI
Feb. 5th at 8:PM…Vagabond Opera Takes OH-IO in Marletta, Ohio
Feb. 6th at 8:PM…Vagabond Returns to Virginia, Barns of Rose Hill
Feb. 7th at 8:PM… They Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Co, Harrisburg, PA>
Feb. 8th at 8:PM… Mauch Chunck Opera House, Jim Torpe, PA.
Feb 9th at 8:PM First Vermont Show..Vermont Arts Exchange-Basement Music Store
March 7th at 8:PM… The Oriental Theater, Denver, CO
March 14th at 8:PM… The Historic Sheridan Opera House, Telluride, CO
March 15th at 8:PM… Crested Butte Center for the Arts, CO
March 16th at 8:PM…Stargazers Theater and Event Center, Colorado Springs, CO.
March 18th at 8:PM… The State Room, Salt Lake City, UT
March 22 at 8:PM PC3-Performing Arts Center, Cabondale, CO
Email: booking@vagabondopera.com
For USA and Canada Booking: virginia@praterday.com
