Pocket Opera North Beach, through nearly two decades of presenting a weekly chamber music series (1960-1978) at the Old Spaghetti Factory, to his present-day fame as the creator of one of San Francisco's most popular operatic institutions. Pippin's first translation came in 1968, in the course of preparing Mozart's one-act opera "Bastien und Bastienne" for performance as part of his chamber music series. The opera, and his singing translation of it, were immediate successes with San Francisco audiences. From that point on, Pippin has dedicated himself to the task of producing literate English versions of both well-loved classics and lesser-known gems of
Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera is a comic opera in one act by David T. Little to a libretto by Royce Vavrek. Commissioned for the Bard College Conservatory of Music Orchestra, the world premiere of "Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera" was presented at the Richard B. Fisher Center on February 26, 2010 performed by students in Bard's graduate vocal performance program with James Bagwell conducting. Dan Rigazzi provided stage direction. A new chamber version of the opera was commissioned by Opera Saratoga in 2017, to be premiered at their summer 2018 festival. The opera is