Skip to main content
In an unexpected pairing of sports and classical music, the Portland Opera will perform at every home game of the Portland Cherry Bombs FC, the new pre-professional women’s soccer club.
A pianist and four Portland Opera singers will lead chants and provide real-time musical game calling in response to the action on the pitch, according to the team.
“We want every Cherry Bombs match to feel alive, emotional and completely different from anything else in sports,” said Cherry Bombs owner Alan Miller, in a press release. “Partnering with Portland Opera brings a level of energy and artistry that elevates the entire experience.”
The Portland Cherry Bombs kick off their inaugural season this Sunday, May 17, at Lents Park in Southeast Portland, the first of seven home games through June 28. The Cherry Bombs are being branded as a riot grrrl-inspired soccer club with black-and-red merch, including jerseys with a Planned Parenthood logo on the front.
In a preview video provided to media, a choir of Portland Opera singers clap and do a Cherry Bombs chant, then break into an operatic verse with plenty of vibrato:
“We love our cherry bombs
We’ll cheer them on and on
This team is dynamite
Their vibe is out of sight
Wait ‘til you see their game
You’ll never be the same.”
The collab is a way to mash together two live audiences that may or may not naturally overlap. For Portland Opera, it’s a way to bring song out of traditional venues like Keller Auditorium connect with the community. (Those who also want an indoor opera experience this weekend could check out the company’s one-night-only May 16 performance of Verdi’s Requiem at Keller Auditorium.) For the Cherry Bombs, it blends “sport, music and culture in a way that redefines what a soccer stadium can sound and feel like,” according to the club.
GO: Portland Cherry Bombs FC’s inaugural game at Lents Park, 4808 SE 92nd Ave. 503-775-3080, cherrybombstickets.com. 7 pm Sunday, May 17. $11-$30.
