Eric Stern

Last updated
Eric Stern
Born (1971-06-09) June 9, 1971 (age 53)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
GenresOpera, Cabaret, Jazz, Bohemian
Occupation(s)Musician, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals, piano, accordion
Years active2002–present
Website ericsternevents.com

Eric Stern (born June 9, 1971 in Philadelphia,PA) [1] is an American vocalist, accordionist, composer, arranger, and pianist based in Portland, Oregon, best known as the founder and artistic director of the band Vagabond Opera. [2] He also performs as a soloist, as well as with the Eric Stern Trio. Stern, with Vagabond Opera, has appeared on NPR [3] and performed at the Kennedy Center, [4] the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, [5] Joe's Pub in New York City. [6]

Contents

Career

Stern was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 1971 and trained as a vocalist at the Delaware Valley Opera Company. At the age of 21, Stern decided to pursue writing and moved to Paris, returning to the U.S., and to music, a year and a half later. [7]

In 2002, Stern founded the group Vagabond Opera, known for their blend of eclectic musical styles, including German cabaret, Klezmer, and jazz. [3] [7] The band released four albums until their hiatus in 2015. [8] With the band, Stern also wrote, composed and performed the 2010 opera Queen of Knives , in collaboration with Wanderlust Circus. [9] [10]

Stern has recorded and performed with a variety of musical acts including The Decemberists, [11] Balkan Beat Box, Unwoman, Pink Martini, and DeVotchka. [12] In 2011, Stern composed the score for the Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre's production of Pinocchio . [13]

In March 2015, Stern's independent production company, Hungry Opera Machine, debuted its first opera at the Alberta Rose Theatre: Flour, Salt, & Moonbeams. It was well-received by critics. [14]

Stern currently works as the Events Coordinator and Cultural Arts Ambassador for Eastside Jewish Commons, a nonprofit in Portland, Oregon. [15]

Awards

ASCAP Concert Division Panel award recognizing creative contributions to American music (September 2011).

Discography

With Vagabond Opera
Solo

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Oregon</span>

The music of Oregon reflects the diverse array of styles present in the music of the United States, from Native American music to the contemporary genres of rock and roll, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, pop, electronic music, and hip hop. However, throughout most of its history, the state has been relatively isolated from the cultural forces shaping American music. Much of modern popular music traces its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the 1920s. African American musicians borrowed elements of European and Indigenous musics to create new American forms. As Oregon's population was more homogeneous and more white than the United States as a whole, the state did not play a significant role in this history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Decemberists</span> American indie rock band

The Decemberists are an American indie rock band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2000. The band consists of Colin Meloy, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee, Nate Query (bass), and John Moen (drums).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin Meloy</span> American musician (born 1974)

Colin Patrick Henry Meloy is an American musician, singer-songwriter and author best known as the frontman of the Portland, Oregon, indie folk rock band the Decemberists. In addition to vocals, he performs with an acoustic guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bouzouki, harmonica and percussion instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall</span> Historic theater and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Portland, Oregon, United States. Part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts, it is home to the Oregon Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, White Bird Dance Company, and Portland Arts & Lectures. It is also a concert and film venue. Originally the Paramount Theatre, it is also locally nicknamed "The Schnitz".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Conlee</span> American musician

Jennifer Lynn Conlee-Drizos is an American musician, best known as the accordionist, pianist, organist, keyboardist, melodica player, and occasional backup singer and harmonicist for the indie rock quintet The Decemberists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Youth Philharmonic</span> Youth orchestra based in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Portland Youth Philharmonic (PYP) is the oldest youth orchestra in the United States, established in 1924 as the Portland Junior Symphony (PJS). Now based in Portland, Oregon, the orchestra's origin dates back to 1910, when music teacher Mary V. Dodge began playing music for local children in Burns, Oregon. Dodge purchased instruments for the children and organized the orchestra, which would become known as the Sagebrush Symphony Orchestra. After touring the state, including a performance at the Oregon State Fair in Salem, the orchestra disbanded in 1918 when Dodge moved to Portland. There, Dodge opened a violin school and became music director of the Irvington School Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storm Large</span> American singer and actor (born 1969)

Storm Large is an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. She attracted national attention as a contestant on the CBS reality television show Rock Star: Supernova. A resident of Portland, Oregon, Large performs nationally with her own band, and tours internationally with the Portland-based band Pink Martini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norman Leyden</span> American conductor

Norman Fowler Leyden was an American conductor, composer, arranger, and clarinetist. He worked in film and television and is perhaps best known as the conductor of the Oregon Symphony Pops orchestra. He co-wrote with Glenn Miller the theme "I Sustain the Wings" in 1943, which was used to introduce the World War II radio series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center</span> Building in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC) is a community-based arts center located in North Portland, Oregon, United States.

Loch Lomond is an American indie folk band based in Portland, Oregon, founded as a solo recording project of Ritchie Young in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillsboro Symphony Orchestra</span> American symphony orchestra

Hillsboro Symphony Orchestra (HSO) is an amateur orchestra based in Hillsboro in the Portland metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 2001, the non-profit group has 86 musicians and is led by conductor Jeff Hornick. They perform three concerts per year at Hillsboro's Hidden Creek Community Center. Additionally, the orchestra also has five ensembles that perform at other events in the area.

Queen of Knives is an opera in two acts by the American composer Eric Stern. The English libretto was written by the composer. The opera premiered in Portland, Oregon, on May 7, 2010, at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. Noah Mickens directed the premiere and the opera was produced by Vagabond Opera and Wanderlust Circus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Prairie</span> American americana band

Black Prairie is a six-piece string band from Portland, Oregon. The band formed in early 2007. Their first album, Feast of the Hunter's Moon, was released on April 6, 2010, on the Sugar Hill label.

Noah Howard Mickens is an American performance artist, showman, and writer from Portland, Oregon, primarily known for his contributions to vaudevillian revival, and as a ringmaster and master of Ceremonies for several theatrical circus troupes. His stage persona, William Batty currently serves as the ringmaster of the Wanderlust Circus, as well as the emcee of numerous vaudevillian and bohemian events in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typhoon (American band)</span> American indie rock band

Typhoon is an American indie rock band based in Portland, Oregon. Led by singer-songwriter Kyle Morton since its founding in 2005, the band is anchored by bassist Toby Tanabe, guitarist Dave Hall, drummer Alex Fitch, and violinist/vocalist Shannon Steele and has been noted for its large size, boasting up to fourteen members in its past. They have released five albums and two EPs, also contributing to a number of compilations. Their most recent album, Underground Complex No. 1 was released on April 15, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanderlust Circus</span>

Wanderlust Circus is a theatrical circus troupe based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2006 by creative partners Noah Mickens and Nick "The Creature" Harbar. Since 2006, Wanderlust Circus has grown from a small band of creatives to a full-fledged circus troupe, and non-profit organization. The organization presently comprises a team of acrobats, a 10-piece swing band, a trick-roping cowboy clown; and several aerialists, contortionists, hand balancers, jugglers, and dancers. Their most popular recurring shows have been The White Album Christmas, A Circus Carol, and the dance party series MegaBounce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourist sternwheelers of Oregon</span> List of sternwheelers of Oregon used in tourism

Since the early 1980s, several non-steam-powered sternwheel riverboats have been built and operated on major waterways in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, as river cruise ships used for tourism. Although configured as sternwheelers, they are not paddle steamers, but rather are motor vessels that are only replicas of paddle steamers. They are powered instead by diesel engines. The Lurdine was, when launched in 1983, "the first passenger-carrying sternwheeler in decades to [operate] on the Columbia River". In the case of the 1983-built M.V. Columbia Gorge, the construction and operation of a tourist sternwheeler was led by local government officials who viewed the idea as potentially being a major tourist attraction, giving an economic boost to their area, Cascade Locks, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A and B Loop</span> Streetcar circle route in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

The A and B Loop is a streetcar circle route of the Portland Streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, United States. Operated by Portland Streetcar, Inc. and TriMet, it is made up of two separate services: the 6.1-mile (9.8 km) A Loop, which runs clockwise, and the 6.6-mile (10.6 km) B Loop, which runs counterclockwise. The route travels a loop between the east and west sides of the Willamette River by crossing the Broadway Bridge in the north and Tilikum Crossing in the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola's Room</span> Venue in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

Lola's Room is a venue operated by McMenamins inside Portland, Oregon's Crystal Ballroom, in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "TaskMaster.Info - Eric Stern". taskmaster.info. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
  2. ↑ Tracy, Ryan (January 7, 2009). "Papa's Got a Brand New Belt". New York Press. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Vagabond Opera On Mountain Stage". NPR. 5 November 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  4. ↑ "Eastern Blocheads: Vagabond Opera". Washington Post. 11 January 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "At the Great American Music Hall, 2007". Facebook . Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  6. ↑ Wong, Melanie (1 August 2013). "Vagabond Opera Enchants Joe's Pub". Feast of Music. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  7. 1 2 Beckman, Rachel (January 10, 2008). "Vagabond Opera: Life Is a Cabaret". The Washington Post . Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Vagabond Opera". Eric Stern Presents. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  9. ↑ D'Antoni, Tom (May 5, 2010). "Vagabond Opera's Opera: Eric Stern on Queen of Knives". Oregon Music News. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  10. ↑ McQuillen, James (11 May 2010). "Opera review: Portland's Vagabond Opera's 'Queen of Knives' is one sharp show". Oregon Live - the Oregonian. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "Picaresque -The Decemberists". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  12. ↑ "Vagabond Opera and Chervona". WOW Hall. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  13. ↑ Johnson, Holly (12 November 2011). "'Pinocchio' review: Puppets and real actors bring the beloved story to life". Oregon Live - the Oregonian. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  14. ↑ Stabler, David. "Flour, Salt, & Moonbeams". The Oregonian. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Meet our staff". Eastside Jewish Commons. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.