Mira Stroika
New York City, New York, United States | SELF
Music
Press
Take two cups of Edith Piaf, one half cup Eartha Kitt, a sprinkle of Betty Boop plus a serious portion of that je ne sais quoi that enthralls audiences, and you have what I see as one of New York's most exciting new cabaret singers: Mira Stroika.
The young California born chanteuse, who likes to accompany herself on her own serious sized accordion, has been wowing crowds packing those new clubs and bars that line the tonifying streets of Brooklyn, and Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Stroika's dazzling repertoire runs everywhere from Russian love songs and Leonard Cohen, to Klezmer Yiddish, New Age Jazz, and one of the best renditions of Piaf's "Rien, Je Ne Regrette Rien" that I've heard since I was 12 and my francophile mother took me to a concert by "The Sparrow" herself.
On top of that, Stroika - whose parents are Soviet-Jewish immigrants - treats her audiences to a lavish array of sophisticated songs that she herself has written and composed. One of my favorites: "Wake Up Norman Rockwell", an ode to the great Americana painter pleading with him to return and lead us all back onto the right path: "We need you Norman, we've a real problem: we're stuck in the same place...so you best get on the case." And then there's the seductive "Kiss Me: "If you want to kiss me, you can kiss me, but I might not kiss you back..."
Mira Stroika will be singing with her accordion and her own 4-piece band, The Ultimatums, this Saturday, February 27th starting at 9 PM to about 10:15 at the decidedly weird but incredibly fun and friendly Mehanata, Bulgarian Bar (they even have good food) at 113 Ludlow Street off East Houston. $10, no drink minimum. (F train to Delancey), www.mehanata.com - Huffington Post
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Chanteuse-songwriter Mira Stroika is a fixture in New York's neo cabaret and indie music scene. Armed with a flirtatious wit, a riveting voice, and a soulfulness one normally associates with performers of yesteryears, Stroika offers up jaw-dropping interpretations of the classics and original and infectious pop songwriting on subjects as far ranging as Reality TV, UFO's and mortality. A classically trained vocalist, pianist, composer and accordionist, Stroika's highly theatrical performances fuse Western pop sensibilities with Eastern European folk, and French and German cabaret influences. Stroika has been compared to Edith Piaf, Tori Amos, Janis Joplin, Amanda Palmer and Amy Winehouse. The daughter of immigrants, Stroika graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale University and holds a masters from Tisch in interactive media and performance.
Stroika has collaborated with Grammy Award winning artists, toured internationally and performed in New York's most notorious underground parties, countless private events and hottest venues including Lincoln Center, Galapagos Art Space, CMJ, The Knitting Factory, Highline Ballroom, Zipper Factory, The Bitter End, Bowery Electric, Bowery Poetry Club, Drom, Mehanata, National Arts Club, The Tank, Local 269, Littlefield, Googie's Lounge, The Living Room, Manhattan Cocktail Gala, Shanghai Mermaid, The Danger, Lee Chappell's Cafe Panache and New York Fashion Week.
SELECTED PRESS:
"Glamorous, glitzy and gutsy with a powerful voice that resonates with the deepest part of the soul, Mira Stroika dazzled her audience with her unique blend of music that fuses Eastern European folk, German and French cabaret with contemporary pop songwriting." - AVIVA BERLIN
"Mira Stroika was the best performance of the evening. No one captured the audience's energy and attention like she did...Her powerful voice has such a soul that it filled the whole venue, and everyone was pulled into her songs."
-SOCIALLY SUPERLATIVE
"Channeling the ghost of Edith Piaf."
- FLAVORPILL
""Take two cups of Edith Piaf, one half cup of Earth Kitt, a sprinkle of Betty Boop plus a serious portion of that je ne sais quoi that enthralls audiences and you have what I see as one of New York's most exciting new cabaret singers: Mira Stroika." - THE HUFFINGTON POST"
"Blew us away."--JPOST
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