Get ready for an electrifying night as The Kruger Brothers make their Addison County debut. Catch them live on Friday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the historic Vergennes Opera House. This performance marks the finale of the theater’s 2023-2024 season.

Well over a year ago, when the Friends of the Vergennes Opera House (FVOH) Programming Team was mapping out the 2023-2024 season, they received a very generous offer. An anonymous donor, approached the FVOH and offered to donate the Kruger Brothers Concert for the 2023-2024 season in order to help raise funds for the non-profit’s All Access Project.

“When this offer came to us, I was blown away and moved to tears,” said Gerianne Smart, President of the FVOH. “This is generosity beyond measure where two people wanted to simultaneously gift the community with the opportunity to hear the Kruger Brothers, but also wanting to significantly contribute to the fundraising effort of our $1.6M All Access Project.”

“We heard the Kruger Brothers play several years ago and several times over the years and we thought it would be wonderful to bring them to Vergennes,” said the anonymous donor. “We not only wanted people to hear their incredible music and musicianship, but we wanted the Kruger Brothers themselves to experience the acoustic richness of the Vergennes Opera House and the warmth of the little city of Vergennes. It does our heart good to know that 100% of the proceeds go directly toward the All Access Project.”

Brothers Jens and Uwe Kruger were born and raised in a family in Switzerland where music was an important part of life. They started singing and playing instruments at a very young age and were exposed to a wide diversity of musical influences. By the time the brothers were eleven and twelve years old, they were performing regularly and in 1979 they began their professional career. Jens’ and Uwe’s first public performances were as a duo, and in just a few years they were busking on the streets of cities throughout eastern and western Europe.

CBS Records contracted with Jens and Uwe when Jens was just 17 years old, and shortly thereafter, the Krugers hosted a radio show on SRG SSR, the Swiss Public broadcast group. Several years later, the brothers teamed up with bass player Joel Landsberg, a native of New York City who also had a very extensive musical upbringing in classical and jazz music (studying with jazz great Milt Hinton), thus forming a trio that has been playing professionally together since 1995. Together, they established the incomparable sound that The Kruger Brothers are known for today. The trio moved to the United States in 2002 and is based in Wilkesboro, N.C.

The Kruger Brothers are a fixture within the world of acoustic music with their unique ability to infuse classical music into folk music. They are known for their remarkable discipline, creativity, and honesty of their writing, which has since become a hallmark of the trio’s work.

In their ever-expanding body of work — Jens Kruger (banjo and vocals), Uwe Kruger (guitar and lead vocals), and Joel Landsberg, (bass and vocals) — The Kruger Brothers personify the spirit of exploration and innovation that forms the core of the American musical tradition. Their original music is crafted around their discerning taste, and the result is unpretentious, cultivated, and delightfully fresh.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Doors and cash bar open at 6:30 p.m.; show starts at 7:30 p.m. General seating. Visit VergennesOperaHouse.org or call 802-877-6737 for tickets and information.