Music❯Hip-Hop

It’s Been Awful marks the moment Isaiah Rashad fully becomes his own genre. The Top Dawg Entertainment visionary returns with his third studio album on May 1, expanding his sonic world beyond hip-hop into cosmic jazz, psychedelic guitar rock, Soulquarian neo-soul, and flashes of genre-blurring experimentation. After five transformative years, Rashad delivers his most vulnerable and fully-realized work yet – an unfiltered reflection on addiction, growth, self-confrontation, and redemption. It’s soul music in its most metaphysical form, anchored by the same lyrical precision and emotional depth that have defined his artistry from the beginning.

Since emerging from Chattanooga, TN in 2012, Rashad has built one of the most impactful and emotionally resonant catalogs in modern rap. His debut Cilvia Demo immediately established him as a critical force, followed by The Sun’s Tirade, which debuted in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and earned Gold certification. His 2021 album The House Is Burning further solidified his cultural imprint, amassing nearly one billion global streams and widespread acclaim for its introspective storytelling and sonic evolution. Across his career, Rashad has achieved multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, with standout records including “Wat’s Wrong” (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Zacari) and “Pretty Little Birds” (feat. SZA), while maintaining a loyal, cult-like fanbase drawn to his honesty and depth.

Rashad has consistently pushed beyond trends to create timeless, deeply personal work. Now, with It’s Been Awful, he enters a new chapter defined by clarity, confrontation, and creative rebirth – reaffirming his place not just in rap, but at the forefront of music’s most compelling storytellers.

Singer, rapper, and author Dessa will join the Oregon Symphony for an evening of soaring ballads, writerly pop songs, and rap anthems. The concert also will include a series of new monologues, crafted in Dessa’s signature style—true stories told with intellectual rigor, tenderness, candor, and wit. Don’t miss this landmark performance, presented in collaboration with Literary Arts as an extension of the Portland Book Festival.

• Sarah Hicks Conductor
• Dessa Vocals
• Oregon Symphony

This concert is part of the Special Concerts series, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only).

Concert begins promptly at the time listed.

Live Wire joins forces with the Portland Art Museum for an afternoon of roving performances ahead of an evening recording of the program. The event coincides with PAM's monthly Free First Thursday and the Portland Book Festival's expanded programming. Performers will include poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries, giving visitors a chance to catch live performances and storytelling while moving through the PAM spaces. Completely free through PAM’s Free First Thursday general admission. Also, enjoy a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide.

Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both.

From the celebrated and award-winning composer Dave Malloy comes Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812, an electropop opera based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation. Following a critically exalted premiere at Ars Nova in New York City, a subsequent off-Broadway transfer and an acclaimed run on Broadway, this award-winning musical expands the possibilities for the genre with its daring score and bold storytelling.

Music and Lyrics By Dave Malloy

Portland Art Museum invites the community to join a Free First Thursday event, offering free admission to the museum for all, plus a Live Wire event as part of the Literary Arts Portland Book Festival. Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both!

4:30 – 6 p.m. — Free, pre-show, pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle.

Free First Thursday tickets can be reserved online one week in advance and are also available at the door.

7 p.m. — Enjoy a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide. Performers are poet and rapper Dessa, bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors will open at 6:30pm.

GA Tickets are $15. Preferred Seating is $40. Discounts available to Portland Book Festival passholders.

Dessa is a singer, rapper, and writer who fell in love with language as a toddler—and just never got over it. Now, she works in fields that traffic in words: she’s recorded rap bangers as part of the fiercely independent Doomtree collective, released a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra; contributed to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler; delivered a TED Talk on the intersection of romance and neuroscience that’s notched more than 4 million views; hosted 2 seasons of behavioral science podcast Deeply Human (BBC/American Public Media); and published a memoir recounting most of the above called My Own Devices (Penguin Random House).

Mac Barnett, the 2025–2026 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, is a New York Times bestselling author of stories for children. Mac’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards, three E. B. White Read Aloud Awards and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, as well as several international prizes. He lives in Oakland, California. His latest book, illustrated by X. Fang, is Tom Nancy: The Sheep Who Swapped Brains with a Boy. From two of the most exciting picture book makers today comes a hilarious trickster tale and Freaky Friday switcheroo story: a sneaky, cheeky sheep named Tom Nancy has a brain swap proposal for an innocent farm boy named Felix that will change both of their lives forever. Laugh-out-loud, subversive, and totally unexpected.

Ed Park is the author of the novels Personal Days and Same Bed Different Dreams. He is a founding editor of The Believer, and has worked in newspapers, book publishing, and academia. His writing appears in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, and elsewhere. Profound, wily, and beautifully wrought, his new book Three Tenses: A Transmission from the Nineties is a meeting of memory and myth, confession and obfuscation, coalescing to offer a singular picture of creativity in action.

The princess of Portland comedy, best known for her breakout performance on the popular Netflix special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda, Mx. Dahlia Belle has been compared to a Swiss Army knife—different tools to extract sharpness, softness, vulnerability, hope, and wicked wit. She’s been declared one of “11 Trans Comedians… Funnier Than Dave Chappelle” by Out Magazine, repeatedly featured on NPR, and has written for Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Guardian, The Stranger, and Portland Mercury. Her live performances have included NW Black Comedy Festival, Upper Left Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest, and an awkward conversation with John Waters and Piers Morgan. In the upcoming live taping of her comedy special Affirmed at Polaris Hall on November 22nd, Mx. Dahlia Belle delivers 60 new minutes of stand-up to celebrate and affirm being human in the modern world through a combination of the wholesome and mundane, anecdotes about house cats, liscivious foibles of the LGBT community, and an unapologetic account of her personal journey with gender-affirming care, all delivered with her trademark free form wit.

Free First Thursdays at the Museum and PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater aligns with the revitalization of the long-standing Portland art galleries’ tradition of opening their doors for openings, receptions, and events on the first Thursday of each month. In recent months art and culture organizations have joined to bring back this popular activity, including the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in the North Park Blocks.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

Daniel Nwosu Jr., better known as the artist Dax, shows no signs of stopping after riding a wave of success that has led to nearly four billion global career streams. Dax released a slew of fan-favorite singles in 2025, following his country-infused breakout song “Dear Alcohol,” which amassed over 350M streams and his genre-blending viral hit “Lonely Dirt Road,” leading to his Lonely Dirt Road headline tour last fall. The tour sold out, hitting major cities worldwide including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and more. In 2026, Dax continues to build on that success with more new music, starting with the release of “Temptation,” “God, Can You Hear Me?” and “Caught You In The Bed,” out now. More new music and headline tour dates are on the horizon.

Sparked by his millions of devoted followers on TikTok, Dax has amassed over 48 million followers across his social platforms. He has collaborated with Darius Rucker, Elle King and Maverick City Music. His music has found space blending genres and has appeared on numerous Billboard charts, Spotify’s Viral 50 (US + Global) chart. He has received multiple Platinum certifications for “Dear Alcohol,” “Lonely Dirt Road” and “To Be A Man” ft. Darius Rucker. He has performed live on NBC News, ABC News and TODAY.

Step into a slippery world where the line between truth and fiction is all in the packaging. It’s 1936, and a pair of passionate filmmakers has landed their next big project: a sweeping Spanish Civil War film with the potential to change American hearts and minds. It just happens to be bankrolled by the KGB. Spain by Jen Silverman is a seductive and tense thriller about the power of art to change the world — for better and for worse.

by Jen Silverman, directed by Josh Hecht

One of the most ambitious productions in recent Profile history, Spain is a grand cross-disciplinary spectacle featuring multiple partnerships with arts organizations throughout Portland, including live opera developed in partnership with Portland Opera, and both recorded and live music performed by musicians with 45th Parallel.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is back with a spectacular new production of The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO and More – featuring the fan-favorite holiday rock opera alongside TSO classics, and rarely performed gems.

Shows:

November 28 at 3:30pm & 8pm

For Tank and the Bangas, music is a vessel for unbridled joy and transcendent connection—forces as integral to their essence as their wildly original sound. On their new album, The Last Balloon, the New Orleans-bred outfit channels those impulses into something celebratory yet profoundly human, exploring themes of frustration, resilience, and self-realization with equal parts raw emotionality and playful exuberance. A shapeshifting collective helmed by lead singer Tarriona “Tank” Ball and multi-instrumentalist Norman Spence II, the globally beloved group completed the LP after winning a Grammy for 2024’s spoken-word powerhouse The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, moving from incendiary poetry to a euphoric collision of soul and hip-hop and forward-thinking R&B. As the final installment in a trilogy of albums that began with 2019’s Green Balloon (a critical triumph that earned them a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist), The Last Balloon ultimately solidifies Tank and the Bangas’ legacy as one of modern music’s most steadfast voices of sublime exhilaration.

Join Portland Opera for an hour of story and song from their latest production, La Traviata.

If you need any ADA accommodations, please reach out to [email protected].

Platinum certified singer, songwriter, producer, and multi instrumentalist Sueco has established herself as one of alternative music’s most versatile independent artists, amassing over 1 billion global streams and billions of views across social platforms. Since breaking onto the scene in 2018, he has been at the forefront of a new generation of internet native artists, leveraging viral storytelling, digital marketing, and direct fan engagement to build a global audience. By consistently creating moments that resonate both online and on stage, Sueco has cultivated a loyal worldwide fanbase while establishing himself as one of alternative music’s most recognizable voices.

Known for seamlessly blending rock, punk, metal, hip hop, and pop into a sound entirely his own, Sueco has built a catalog that refuses to be confined by genre. Equal parts songwriter, producer, and performer, his ability to pair massive hooks with raw emotion and explosive energy has earned him a reputation as one of the genre’s most exciting crossover artists while maintaining an unmistakable artistic identity.

That momentum has continued through 2026. Sueco returned with “REARRANGING SCARS,” featured in the latest installment of the Scream franchise, before joining forces with blackbear on the explosive single “ENEMY.” He followed it with “ARE YOU ENTERTAINED?” alongside longtime friend and collaborator Jeris Johnson, delivering one of the year’s standout alternative collaborations and further showcasing his versatility as both a songwriter and artist.

Now fully independent, Sueco continues to build momentum through major film placements, high profile collaborations, and a growing international audience while maintaining full creative control over his music and career. His fearless songwriting, genre bending creativity, and instinct for connecting with fans have positioned him among a new generation of artists redefining what an independent career can look like.

Live Wire teams up with the Portland Art Museum during First Thursday and the Portland Book Festival. From 4:30 to 6 p.m., complimentary pop-up performances roam the museum galleries, no ticket needed. At 7 p.m., host Luke Burbank and announcer Elena Passarello lead a seated, ticketed taping with poet and rapper Dessa, children’s author Mac Barnett, Pulitzer Prize finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.. Portland Book Festival passholders get 10% off.

No one combines stand-up comedy, improvised music and audience interaction like Chris Turner. This unique skillset proved a hit with the American public, who voted him runner-up on Season 20 of America’s Got Talent, making him the highest placed comedian in 10 years, and the top-ranking rapper the show has ever seen.

Chris was one of the first comedians to ever perform a Las Vegas residency with Cirque Du Soleil; defeated ChatGPT in TED’s inaugural Man vs. Machine rap battle; and his appearances on America’s Got Talent and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earned him rapturous standing ovations. Based in New York, he’s a regular headline act at the world famous Comedy Cellar, with over 125 million views online thanks to his unmatched improvisational talent. Chris’s one-of-a-kind approach to crowd-sourced musical comedy make his live shows a unique and unforgettable experience that has to be seen to be believed.

”Absolutely hilarious…Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant” – Simon Cowell

“One of the most unique and innovative acts ever…genuinely has to be seen to be believed” – NBC

“Very funny, uniquely appealing... nobody on a Vegas stage does what he does” Las Vegas Review-Journal

Management reserves the right to prevent customers from entering the facility who they deem disruptive or dangerous to other patrons.

PAM gallery pop-ups: 4:30-6:00 p.m.
Doors for Live Wire seated show: 6:30 p.m.
Live Show: 7:00 p.m.

Live Wire Radio, the Portland-based public radio variety show, joins forces with the Portland Art Museum for an afternoon of roving performances ahead of an evening recording of the program. The event coincides with PAM’s monthly Free First Thursday and the Portland Book Festival’s expanded programming.

In the afternoon, free pop-up performances will take place throughout the Museum’s galleries giving visitors a chance to catch short live performances and storytelling while moving through the PAM spaces. Performers will include genre-blending rapper and writer Dessa, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and children’s author Mac Barnett, National Book Award Finalist Ed Park, and Portland comedian Mx. Dahlia Belle among others.

The evening will feature a fully seated, ticketed Live Wire taping hosted by Luke Burbank with announcer Elena Passarello, featuring a blend of interviews, comedy, and music performed live for the audience, then edited into an episode for broadcast to over 200 public radio stations nationwide.

Visitors can take in the afternoon gallery pop-ups, the evening show, or both!

Note: Admission is free to the afternoon gallery pop-ups as part of general admission on Free First Thursday at Portland Art Museum. Tickets available on the museum website.

Ticket Prices:
$40 Preferred Seats
$36 Bookfest Pass Holder Discount – Preferred Seats (10% off)
$15 General Admission Seats
$13.50 Bookfest Pass Holder Discount – General Admission (10% off)

Soul'd Out Presents: Down in the Delta with Ms Vee and Yella P
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm
Ages 21+.

You won't want to miss this Annual Birthday Celebration with the Bad Girl of the Blues! Harp/Guitar Extraordinaire Yella P joins Portland's Bad girl of the Blues, Ms Vee and a Badass Band. Damion “Yella P” Pearson is a Memphis-born harmonica virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, and educator whose sound blends blues, soul, jazz, funk, and hip-hop, shaped by influences ranging
from Marvin Gaye, John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, Billie Holiday, and George Clinton to Southern rap icons like 8Ball & MJG and Playa Fly.

A fixture in the Memphis music scene, he has collaborated and shared stages with artists including Eric Gales, The Bar-Kays, Kirk Whalum, Eddie Floyd, Bobby Rush, and Robert Finley, and co-founded the award-winning duo Memphissippi Sounds with Cam Kimbrough—whose debut album Welcome to the Land charted internationally and fueled tours across the U.S.,
Europe, and Canada. Now fully dedicated to his art, Yella P continues to release new music while delivering powerful, genre-bending performances that honor tradition and boldly push it forward.

Ms. Vee Singer, Musician, Writer, and Comedienne; 2023 Muddy Awards Nominee for Best Female Vocalist, 2021 Band & 2019 Solo Granite State Blues Challenge Winner & International Blues Challenge Semifinalist: Ms Vee's style of Soul Blues is infused with black southern gospel and a lot of soul! In 2018, Ms Vee launched her own music project, founding Ms Vee and a Badass Band.

Hailing from Arkansas by way of Memphis Tennessee, the award-winning Ms Vee brings powerhouse vocals and a razor sharp wit to every show.In January 2023, Ms Vee launched a Pacific Northwest configuration of Ms Vee and a Badass Band. Backed by some of the most accomplished musicians in Portland, including Chance Hayden, Jake Koprowski, Terrell "Peanut" Reed, and Ron Solomon, Ms Vee and her Badass Band has been rocking houses since their 2022 debut. They’ve quickly risen to the top of the PDX music scene.
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JLR Seating Map Notes: For this show, you may reserve individual tables on the map pictured. Note that some tables have limited sightlines as noted. General Admission ticket holders note that seating and sightlines are limted and may be standing room only. All table reservations include admission.

1. For Table Reservations: Note the relative location of the stage and bar on the map. Then click a table number to see prices, or click "Show All Tickets". Click the + button to add a specific table to your cart.
2. For General Admission tickets: click the "GA Standing" area. Click the + button to add additional tickets.
3. Click "Agree & Checkout"

Down in the Delta with Ms Vee and Yella P

Ticket allows entry to the '90s Dance Flashback party in Crystal Ballroom AND the 2010s Dance Flashback party in Lola's Room

Dance to all your favorite music videos from the 2010s on our giant screen!

Featuring music by….

Taylor Swift, Drake, Harry Styles, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Post Malone, Lizzo, Bad Bunny, One Direction, Doja Cat, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Miley Cyrus, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, Rosalia, Frank Ocean, Bruno Mars, Major Lazer and more.

One of the most beloved operas ever written, La Traviata pairs soaring melodies with a deeply personal story of love and sacrifice. At its center is Violetta, an independent woman navigating desire, societal expectation, and the fragile possibility of happiness on her own terms. As romance and reality collide, Verdi’s luminous score reveals the emotional complexity of living authentically in a world determined to impose its rules. Tender, tragic, and timeless, the opera continues to resonate for its compassionate portrayal of Violetta’s vulnerability, resilience, courage as she chooses personal truth in the face of public judgment.

$10 at the door Cash Only, 21+, 7PM Doors/8PM Music

__________________________________

Broken Toyz

Yourhomie Kyle

https://www.instagram.com/yourhomiekyle/

Oscar Goldman

https://oscargoldmanmusic.bandcamp.com/

https://fakefour.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/oscargoldmanmusic/

Taste Nate

https://tastenate.bandcamp.com/

https://linktr.ee/tastenate

https://www.instagram.com/tastenatemusic/

Diction Uno

https://dictionuno.bandcamp.com/

https://linktr.ee/Dictionuno

https://www.instagram.com/dictionuno/

Kable Roc

https://www.instagram.com/kableroc/

Grim Jim

Estimated Set Times

9:55-10:15: Broken Toyz

9:40-9:50: Yourhomie Kyle

9:15-9:35: Oscar Goldman

8:55-9:15: Taste Nate

8:35-8:50: Diction Uno

8:20-8:30: Kable Roc

8:00-8:15: Grim Jim

FREE

This Sunday featuring - Rose Tinted!

Live band arrangements of hip hop classics and deeper grooves 9pm-midnight this week.

Free every Sunday night rotating the regions best Soul, Funk, R&B bands and DJs in one of the best sounding rooms in the city.

Since 2000 Tony Smiley has captivated audiences around the world with his raw rhythms of all live looping. This musical savant loops his way through a unique genre of music that you wont find anywhere else.

He is a passionate performer with a witty, engaging and energetic stage presence, a unique artistic twist that creates a one of a kind show...that is the Tony Smiley experience.

His style of melodies range from rock, hip hop, reggae, world tribal fusion, 80's, a dash of Mongolian throat singing, beat boxing and everything in between, all of which have earned Tony Smiley a cult like following around the globe.

Whether packing local venues, performing at Britt Fest, Les Schwab Amphitheater, sharing the stage with Michael Franti, Boy George & Culture Club, War, or joining festivals around the states...Tony Smiley is a must see performer!

For more than 20 years, Portland Opera to Go (nicknamed POGO) has shared opera experiences with communities around the region. The Crown Maker is a world-premiere opera inspired by the life and legacy of Eva Castellanos, a Mexican American healer, artist, educator, and tireless advocate for immigrant rights. Rooted in Oregon history and shaped by the traditions of community storytelling, the work explores how creativity, compassion, and cultural knowledge can transform lives across generations.

Told as a traditional corrido, The Crown Maker blends poetry, history, and music to explore how one woman’s vision empowered generations through art, healing traditions, and fearless community leadership. Through an evocative score and intimate storytelling, The Crown Maker honors Castellanoz’ lifelong dedication to uplifting others through art, healing practices, and grassroots activism. Her work created spaces where identity, heritage, and belonging could thrive, even in the face of social and political barriers. The opera examines the lasting influence of those who build community not through power or prestige, but through care, vision, and persistence.

Created especially for Portland Opera to Go audiences, The Crown Maker blends poetry, history, and music to explore how one woman’s vision empowered generations through art, healing traditions, and fearless community leadership. This production brings a uniquely Oregonian story to life, while speaking to universal themes of resilience, memory, and self-determination. The Crown Maker celebrates the power of cultural inheritance and the people who preserve it, inviting audiences of all ages to reflect on how stories, traditions, and acts of courage continue to shape communities today.

Nov. 14 — Two performances at Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Dec. 4-5 — Three performances at the World Trade Center Theatre.

Jan. 10 — Watch at the historic Clatskanie Cultural Center at 2 p.m.

Jan. 24 — Join the Happy Valley Library at 2 p.m.

For nearly a decade as a duo, and longer still as solo artists, Armand Hammer have left a palpable mark on modern rap and hip-hop. At turns both sharp-witted and soul-crushing, their lyrics unspool threads of socio-political, historical, and philosophical import with a potent blend of incisive critique, gallows humor, and narrative élan.

Mercy is the first Armand Hammer album since 2023's We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, a project that The Observer (UK) described as "an exceptional record that deserves your time and headphones" and The Line Of Best Fit deemed "their headiest and most impressive work thus far." On 2021's Haram, their first with The Alchemist, the duo "drag postcolonial wounds onto the examination table" (Pitchfork). Beats Per Minute called it "a tremendous success."

Platinum certified singer, songwriter, producer, and multi instrumentalist Sueco has established himself as one of alternative music’s most versatile independent artists, amassing over 1 billion global streams and billions of views across social platforms. Since breaking onto the scene in 2018, he has been at the forefront of a new generation of internet native artists, leveraging viral storytelling, digital marketing, and direct fan engagement to build a global audience. By consistently creating moments that resonate both online and on stage, Sueco has cultivated a loyal worldwide fanbase while establishing himself as one of alternative music’s most recognizable voices.

Known for seamlessly blending rock, punk, metal, hip hop, and pop into a sound entirely his own, Sueco has built a catalog that refuses to be confined by genre. Equal parts songwriter, producer, and performer, his ability to pair massive hooks with raw emotion and explosive energy has earned him a reputation as one of the genre’s most exciting crossover artists while maintaining an unmistakable artistic identity.

That momentum has continued throughout 2026. Sueco returned with “REARRANGING SCARS,” featured in the latest installment of the Scream franchise, before joining forces with blackbear on the explosive single “ENEMY.” He followed it with “ARE YOU ENTERTAINED?” alongside longtime friend and collaborator Jeris Johnson, delivering one of the year’s standout alternative collaborations and further showcasing his versatility as both a songwriter and artist.

Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multisensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations in Portland like never before. Get your tickets now to discover the music of 90s Hip-Hop on Strings at The Old Church Concert Hall under the gentle glow of candlelight.

Tentative Program:

• Ready or Not - Fugees
• Rosa Parks - Outkast
• Misdemeanor - Foster Sylvers
• N.Y. State of Mind - Nas
• Big Pimpin' - UGK, Jay-Z
• Can I Kick It? - A Tribe Called Quest
• Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing ta F' Wit - Wu-Tang Clan
• Dear Mama - 2Pac
• Big Poppa - The Notorious B.I.G.
• Nuthin' But A "G" Thang - Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg
• Gin and Juice - Snoop Dogg

Performed by String Quartet - Listeso

Portland Opera To Go (POGO) proudly presents the latest installment of the Our Oregon series--a collection of original youth operas that examines Oregon history by highlighting the lives of extraordinary Oregonian women through a variety of lenses.

Speed Dating Tonight!
Music & Libretto by Michael Ching
Based on a concept by Dean Anthony

Portland State University’s Opera program kicks off its 50th anniversary season with Michael Ching’s “Speed Dating Tonight!” (2013). Set over the course of a single evening at a local bar, this clever, heartwarming opera follows a revolving cast of singles searching for that elusive spark. There's the dreamer, the hopeless romantic, the bashful, the over-sharer, the chronically distracted, and everyone in between, each getting their moment in the spotlight through music that is equal parts tender, heartbreaking, and hilarious.

Written with duets and ensembles for up to 45 voices, “Speed Dating Tonight!” has a flexible modular structure that can be customized to fit any cast size, voice type, or gender identity. PSU Opera’s version of “Speed Dating Tonight!” features 35 song selections and arrangements specifically chosen to reflect the unique assortment of voices in the 12-member cast.

At its heart, this is a show about the universal human longing to be seen and cherished by another person. Woven through the interactions is another question: can a genuine connection actually happen in five minutes or less? With Michael Ching’s delightful opera, the answer is decidedly yes.

Visit the Speed Dating Tonight! web page to learn more about this production, including additional dates, cast and crew information, photos, and more as we get closer to opening night.

Learn more about the Opera program at Portland State University's School of Music & Theater.

As young musicians passionate about opera and about their hometown, Emily Nelson and Bethany Schweitzer Goshorn thought, "What better place for an Opera on Tap chapter than our fair city known for its beer, wine and cocktail culture?" Thus Opera on Tap PDX was born - one of 16 nationwide chapters of Opera on Tap. Northwest native Sadie Gregg joined the Managing Diva team in 2016, after singing with the Boston chapter.

Why are we so passionate about opera? Opera speaks to the human condition. It expresses human emotion and relationship in a very unique and profound way. The human voice in all its glory has a visceral effect on us. In a culture focused on instant gratification with short attention spans, opera demands your full attention and rewards you with a wild ride on the emotional roller coaster.

Chances are that people who say they don't like opera have never heard it live! Opera on Tap seeks to change this by bringing the genre back to the people in familiar places: community gathering spaces, restaurants, and bars - much how music was historically enjoyed in Germany pubs. We seek to share, educate and bring simply fabulous music to an audience that might not otherwise be able to enjoy the art form. So grab your friends and your favorite pint, and join us for Opera on Tap!

Opera On Tap Nationwide
Opera on Tap (OOT) was born in 2005 at Freddy's Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn and incorporated in 2007 to promote opera as a viable, living, and progressive art form and to support the developing artists who continue to keep the art form alive. What began as a small monthly gathering of ambitious, classically trained singers looking for more performance opportunities has grown into a producing organization that has gained a loyal audience base and national recognition as an innovative force on the classical music scene. Through its Chapter program, which now has sixteen vibrant national chapters, OOT has created a large network of performers, creators, and supporters.

Los Angeles based nineteen year old Jeremiah Mark (they/he) released their first full-length endeavor under the moniker Lucy Bedroque, their deadAir Records debut. With no prior singles, the breakneck seventeen track shotgun blast of Digicore and Hardcore Hip Hop, titled “Unmusique” has established them as a bastion of these underground sounds. The release date coincided with their first show on the Jane Remover and Dazegxd tour “TURN UP OR DIE”, along with a full west coast run.

Leading up to this moment, Lucy Bedroque gained a cult following in the shadowy sectors of the online underground, with a break-out debut LP “Sisterhood” as Lostrushi. This is the name that raised them to notoriety alongside peers 9lives, prettifun, and egobreak. The new material continues further down the same path, combining cutthroat rage, with the eclecticism and sensitivities of Stereolab, Radiohead, and Deftones.

While forging their distinct multi-media surrealism, Mark also found a penchant for customized linguistics and contorting the English language. Most notably, the title “Glutmother” (the name fans chose for a hyper-active Subreddit) graces the cover art of the debut and the packaging of “Unmusique. “The role of motherhood here is representative of a superiority to everything around it. But beyond humans, it’s a reference to mother nature and creation.” They explain. As for why it’s juxtaposed with gluttony, that’s because “People want more than anyone can handle, and I’ve responded to it with a perfectionist’s mindset.” They combine into a deep resonance of identity that’d easily evade a new listener.

Speed Dating Tonight!
Music & Libretto by Michael Ching
Based on a concept by Dean Anthony

Portland State University’s Opera program kicks off its 50th anniversary season with Michael Ching’s “Speed Dating Tonight!” (2013). Set over the course of a single evening at a local bar, this clever, heartwarming opera follows a revolving cast of singles searching for that elusive spark. There's the dreamer, the hopeless romantic, the bashful, the over-sharer, the chronically distracted, and everyone in between, each getting their moment in the spotlight through music that is equal parts tender, heartbreaking, and hilarious.

Written with duets and ensembles for up to 45 voices, “Speed Dating Tonight!” has a flexible modular structure that can be customized to fit any cast size, voice type, or gender identity. PSU Opera’s version of “Speed Dating Tonight!” features 35 song selections and arrangements specifically chosen to reflect the unique assortment of voices in the 12-member cast.

At its heart, this is a show about the universal human longing to be seen and cherished by another person. Woven through the interactions is another question: can a genuine connection actually happen in five minutes or less? With Michael Ching’s delightful opera, the answer is decidedly yes.

Visit the Speed Dating Tonight! web page to learn more about this production, including additional dates, cast and crew information, photos, and more as we get closer to opening night.

Learn more about the Opera program at Portland State University's School of Music & Theater.

No one combines stand-up comedy, improvised music and audience interaction like Chris Turner. This unique skill set proved a hit with the American public, who voted him runner-up on Season 20 of America’s Got Talent, making him the highest-placed comedian in 10 years and the top-ranking rapper the show has ever seen.

Chris was one of the first comedians to ever perform a Las Vegas residency with Cirque Du Soleil; defeated ChatGPT in TED’s inaugural Man vs. Machine rap battle; and his appearances on America’s Got Talent and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earned him rapturous standing ovations. Based in New York, he’s a regular headline act at the world-famous Comedy Cellar, with over 125 million views online thanks to his unmatched improvisational talent. Chris’s one-of-a-kind approach to crowd-sourced musical comedy makes his live shows a unique and unforgettable experience that has to be seen to be believed.

Hotwax brings together disco, glam, metal, punk, and hip-hop.

Singer, rapper, and author Dessa will join the Oregon Symphony for an evening of soaring ballads, writerly pop songs, and rap anthems. The concert will also include a series of new monologues, crafted in Dessa’s signature style—true stories told with intellectual rigor, tenderness, candor, and wit. Don’t miss this landmark performance, presented in collaboration with Literary Arts as an extension of the Portland Book Festival.

Sarah Hicks, Conductor

Dessa, Vocals

Oregon Symphony

One of the most beloved operas ever composed, La Traviata combines sweeping emotion with some of the most recognizable music in the operatic repertoire. Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece tells the story of Violetta Valéry, a woman determined to live freely and authentically despite the rigid social expectations that surround her. When she falls deeply in love, she is forced to confront the painful realities of class, reputation, sacrifice, and the cost of pursuing happiness on her own terms.

Adapted from Alexandre Dumas fils’ La Dame aux camélias, the opera broke new ground in its portrayal of a contemporary woman whose emotional life is treated with dignity, complexity, and compassion. Verdi’s luminous score captures both the exhilaration of love and the devastating consequences of societal judgment, moving seamlessly from moments of intimacy and joy to heartbreaking tragedy.

More than a romantic drama, La Traviata remains a powerful reflection on personal freedom, vulnerability, and the tension between public expectation and private truth. Its enduring resonance lies in its humanity: the opera asks what it means to truly live according to one’s own values in a world eager to define worth through convention, status, and appearance.

It's Been Awful marks the moment Isaiah Rashad fully becomes his own genre. The Top Dawg Entertainment visionary returns with his third studio album on May 1, expanding his sonic world beyond hip-hop into cosmic jazz, psychedelic guitar rock, Soulquarian neo-soul, and flashes of genre-blurring experimentation. After five transformative years, Rashad delivers his most vulnerable and fully-realized work yet - an unfiltered reflection on addiction, growth, self-confrontation, and redemption. It's soul music in its most metaphysical form, anchored by the same lyrical precision and emotional depth that have defined his artistry from the beginning.

Since emerging from Chattanooga, TN in 2012, Rashad has built one of the most impactful and emotionally resonant catalogs in modern rap. His debut Cilvia Demo immediately established him as a critical force, followed by The Sun's Tirade, which debuted in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and earned Gold certification. His 2021 album The House Is Burning further solidified his cultural imprint, amassing nearly one billion global streams and widespread acclaim for its introspective storytelling and sonic evolution. Across his career, Rashad has achieved multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, with standout records including 'Wat's Wrong' (feat. Kendrick Lamar and Zacari) and 'Pretty Little Birds' (feat. SZA), while maintaining a loyal, cult-like fanbase drawn to his honesty and depth.

Rashad has consistently pushed beyond trends to create timeless, deeply personal work. Now, with It's Been Awful, he enters a new chapter defined by clarity, confrontation, and creative rebirth — reaffirming his place not just in rap, but at the forefront of music's most compelling storytellers.

Singer, rapper, and author Dessa joins the Oregon Symphony for an evening of soaring ballads, thoughtful pop songs, and rap anthems. The concert also features new monologues in Dessa’s signature style, sharing true stories with intellectual rigor, tenderness, candor, and wit. Presented in collaboration with Literary Arts as an extension of the Portland Book Festival.

Quadeca makes genre-defiant music that bends experimental hip-hop, neo-psychedelia, alternative R&B, pop, bossa nova, and more to his whims. Over the years, he transitioned from a career in content creation to a more personal artistry. He started out making videos where he replicated the styles of various popular rappers, eventually parlaying this viral online content into attention for his own original music. Quadeca replaced the trends and tropes of commercial rap that made up his earlier work with a sharpened focus on musicianship, melody, and atmospheric songwriting on his 2022 album I Didn't Mean to Haunt You. The critically acclaimed 2024 mixtape Scrapyard continued in this experimental direction, touching on everything from Björk-indebted electronica to shoegaze to emo rap. Quadeca's fourth proper studio album, Vanisher, Horizon Scraper, appeared in 2025.

If you need any ADA accommodations, please reach out to [email protected].

Doors: 11:30 pm / Show: 11:30 pm

Los Angeles based nineteen year old Jeremiah Mark (they/he) released their first full-length endeavor under the moniker Lucy Bedroque, their deadAir Records debut. With no prior singles, the breakneck seventeen track shotgun blast of Digicore and Hardcore Hip Hop, titled “Unmusique” has established them as a bastion of these underground sounds. The release date coincided with their first show on the Jane Remover and Dazegxd tour “TURN UP OR DIE”, along with a full west coast run.

Leading up to this moment, Lucy Bedroque gained a cult following in the shadowy sectors of the online underground, with a break-out debut LP “Sisterhood” as Lostrushi. This is the name that raised them to notoriety alongside peers 9lives, prettifun, and egobreak. The new material continues further down the same path, combining cutthroat rage, with the eclecticism and sensitivities of Stereolab, Radiohead, and Deftones.

While forging their distinct multi-media surrealism, Mark also found a penchant for customized linguistics and contorting the English language. Most notably, the title “Glutmother” (the name fans chose for a hyper-active Subreddit) graces the cover art of the debut and the packaging of “Unmusique. “The role of motherhood here is representative of a superiority to everything around it. But beyond humans, it’s a reference to mother nature and creation.” They explain. As for why it’s juxtaposed with gluttony, that’s because “People want more than anyone can handle, and I’ve responded to it with a perfectionist’s mindset.” They combine into a deep resonance of identity that’d easily evade a new listener.