Brenna McDonald Flamenco Guitarist (with Eric Stern, Oud)

This free noon concert is part of The Portland Jewish Music Festival!

The first week of the Portland Jewish Music Festival focuses on the Sephardic/Mizrachi musical heritage of Jews as well as the modern fusion between Spanish flamenco/gitano music and those genres. 

In this one hour concert international flamenco guitarist Brenna McDonald will be joined by oudist Eric Stern (Vagabond Opera, Festival Director) to explore the musical relationship between the oud (a kind of fretless lute used in Mizrachi music) and its cousin the guitar. 

Free/All Ages

Brenna McDonald has lived and studied flamenco in Spain and is a founding member of La Peña Flamenca de Portland and Espacio Flamenco. She currently teaches flamenco dance and guitar at Espacio Flamenco and co-organizes the performance company Espacio Flamenco Onstage. Her passion for flamenco drew her to study flamenco guitar and dance from an early age. Her first teachers were Martita Santiago and Jaime Woods in Eugene, OR. Her pursuit of learning took her to Spain to study where she lived and studied for several years between 2003 and 2009 with some of the greatest maestros, including Chiqui de Jerez, Jose Luis Balao, Parrilla de Jerez, and Juan de los Reyes. Brenna is one of the few female flamenco guitarists in the world who has achieved a level of proficiency in flamenco dance and singing accompaniment.

Eric Stern is a performer, producer, and arts advocate. As a performer, he’s appeared on NPR and has performed at the Kennedy Center, throughout the Northwest, and internationally from Portland to Paris to Poland. Best known as the founder and leader of Vagabond Opera, Stern has returned in recent years to his Jewish roots, studying and playing Oud (a kind of lute that is played throughout the Mizrachi, and Sephardic world). Along with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb he founded the Jewish Theater Project in New Mexico, Vagabond Opera in Portland and Hungry Opera Machine, a modern-opera company. He has produced productions from intimate cafe events to full-scale theatrical performances