Felix
Jarrar

Coach, Composer, Piano
Felix Jarrar
(He/Him) Composer/pianist Felix Jarrar’s list of accomplishments includes performances at (le) poisson rouge, the BAM! Fisher Hillman Studio, and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. Amongst his approximately 230 works, he has written over 200 art songs, 12 operas, 2 string quartets, and 2 cantatas, among other works. Jarrar has served as a vocal coach and accompanist at Mannes School of Music for the opera department. This season, he debuts his ensemble The Jarrar and Brea Duo with award-winning Venezuelan soprano Maria Brea. 
Read More
You are viewing Felix Jarrar’s public profile. To message Felix, view contact information, professional endorsements, activity, and more, join Stagetime.
Join to Connect

Schedule

Upcoming Engagements

Recent Highlights

   

Biography

Felix Jarrar

COMPOSER BIO

With music described as “dreamlike”(Boston Globe) and “delightfully cruel” (Operawire), NYC-based Felix Jarrar is a composer and pianist with “(strong) dramatic instincts” (Lewis Spratlan, 2000 Pulitzer Prizewinner in Music) whose “music flows from him in the most natural and lively way” (Tom Cipullo). His works are praised as “experimental and beautifully composed” (Broadway World) with “lush and memorable melodies” (Operawire). His list of accomplishments includes performances at Symphony Space, (le) poisson rouge, Feinstein's/54 below, the BAM! Fisher Hillman Studio, Roulette Intermedium, and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His works are performed internationally by artists from the Metropolitan Opera, the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, the duo Unassisted Fold, and Spark Duo. 

At the forefront of Jarrar’s compositional output are his works for voice. Amongst his approximately 230 works, he has written over 200 art songs, 12 operas, 2 string quartets, and 2 cantatas, among other works. He wrote his first opera when he was 15. When he was 19, he wrote the score and libretto for his second opera The Fall of the House of Usher, based on the eponymous Edgar Allan Poe short story. The opera premiered in 2016 at Vermont's Marlboro College and toured off-Broadway at NYC's The DiMenna Center. Since its premier, Jarrar has adapted other Poe stories into operas (The Oval PortraitThe Cask of Amontillado, and The Tell Tale Heart). Jarrar wrote the score and libretto for Mother Goose, his fifth opera, which won him the Lehman Engel Award from Brooklyn College. Mother Goose premiered at Dixon Place in 2019 and was subsequently produced at the Emerging Artists Theatre festival in 2021. He frequently collaborates with stage director/librettist Bea Goodwin. Their work together won the duo the 2019 award for "Best New Music '' from the 360 of Opera awards and Really Spicy Opera’s 2020 Quarantine (Scenes) Initiative. Goodwin wrote libretti for Jarrar’s Dickens’ A Christmas CarolTabula RasaHindSight, and Patience & Pearl, in addition to many art songs. Jarrar has premiered his work with regional companies such as Helios Opera, /kor/ productions, Opera on Tap, and Opera Elect. This past spring, Jarrar was an artist-in-residence with Midori & Friends. His tenth opera, Washington Square, with a libretto by Thomas Barrett Blakeley, premiered in California at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June 2022 as a Fringe Scholarship awardee. Jarrar won first place in the inaugural 2023 Central Texas SongSlam presented by Lone Star Songs. He is a vocal coach at Mannes School of Music. This season, he debuts his ensemble The Jarrar and Brea Duo with award-winning Venezuelan soprano Maria Brea. 

Jarrar completed his Bachelor of Arts from Marlboro College with Highest Honors in Music Composition and Piano Performance. He received his Master of Music degree from Brooklyn College with the Graduate Dean’s Award in Music Composition on the Eleanor Kilcoyne, Cerf Music, and Chancey Memorial Scholarships while holding the prestigious graduate fellowship for assisting Ursula Oppens’ contemporary ensemble in the conservatory. His primary teachers include Jason Eckardt, Stanley Charkey, Tania León, and Robert Merfeld. He was mentored by piano pedagogue Burton Hatheway.
 

PIANIST/COACH BIO

​With music described as “dreamlike”(Boston Globe) and “delightfully cruel” (Operawire), NYC-based Felix Jarrar is a composer and pianist with “(strong) dramatic instincts” (Lewis Spratlan, 2000 Pulitzer Prizewinner in Music) whose “music flows from him in the most natural and lively way” (Tom Cipullo). His works are praised as “experimental and beautifully composed” (Broadway World). His list of accomplishments includes performances at Symphony Space, (le) poisson rouge, Feinstein's/54 below, the BAM! Fisher Hillman Studio, Roulette Intermedium, and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. His works are performed internationally by artists from the Metropolitan Opera, the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, the duo Unassisted Fold, and Spark Duo. At the forefront of Jarrar’s compositional output are his works for voice. Amongst his approximately 230 works, he has written over 200 art songs, 12 operas, 2 string quartets, and 2 cantatas, among other works. He wrote his first opera when he was 15. 

One of the most in-demand collaborative pianists for operatic repertoire in Manhattan, Jarrar has played auditions at the David Koch Theater, the Metropolitan Opera, Opera America, and countless other studios for many national and international companies and managers. He maintains an active private coaching studio in both NYC and Boston. In May 2022, Jarrar was an artist-in-residence with Midori & Friends. Jarrar has served as a vocal coach and accompanist at Mannes School of Music for the opera department. This season, he debuted his ensemble The Jarrar and Brea Duo with award-winning Venezuelan soprano Maria Brea. Jarrar served as one of the pianists for Santa Fe Opera’s workshop of The Righteous by Spears/Smith this past December. This season, he additionally served as a répétiteur for Opera Ithaca and Penn Square Music Festival. Jarrar is also an accomplished artist in crossover repertoire, having collaborated with Broadway singers that have sung in recent productions of Into the Woods, Six, Hadestown, and Wicked. 

Jarrar completed his Bachelor of Arts from Marlboro College with Highest Honors in Music Composition and Piano Performance. He received his Master of Music degree from Brooklyn College with the Graduate Dean’s Award in Music Composition on the Eleanor Kilcoyne, Cerf Music, and Chancey Memorial Scholarships while holding the prestigious graduate fellowship for assisting Ursula Oppens’ contemporary ensemble in the conservatory. His primary teachers include Jason Eckardt, Stanley Charkey, Tania León, and Robert Merfeld. He was mentored by piano pedagogue Burton Hatheway. 

 

 

Press Quotes

Gallery

Press





News & Features

Felix Jarrar’s Features

Industry and Specialty