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.
February 26th, 2023 7:00pm
location: Stuytown in NYC (address sent to everyone who RSVPs via Groupmuse)
Join pianist/composer Felix Jarrar for his first concert of the year in New York City with Groupmuse in the city's Stuytown neighborhood. Tenor Douglas Sabo, soprano Caroline Maria Spaeth, and violinist Adam von Housen join him and perform an evening of music by Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, and compositions of Jarrar.
The concert features the world premiere of “You can’t get it up” and “Twerking near the paella”, for which Jarrar wrote both the music and text.
The concert takes place on Sunday, February 26th at 7:00pm. Door opens at 6:30pm and the suggested donation is $20, which all goes directly to the musicians.
Purchase tickets here: http://grpm.us/5afxXw
Join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar, mezzo-soprano Jessica Trainor-Tasucu, contralto Allison Gish, tenor Ryan Mangan, and baritone Miguel Angel Vasquez on Friday March 3rd at 7pm in the Charles MacKay Studio in Opera America as they live world premiere 14 songs that Jarrar wrote in the pandemic with various collaborators.
The program features the world premiere of "Wild West" and the song cycle French Kisses with texts by Bea Goodwin, the 2020 song cycle Happy (texts by the composer) and the cycle Sea Boy Barcarolles with texts by Ryan Mangan (who will also premiere them).
Tickets are $10 for this limited, one-night only engagement.
Women + Life + Freedom: a concert to benefit Amnesty International
Join the Jarrar and Brea Duo (Maria Brea and Felix Jarrar) and guest artists for a concert to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to raise money to investigate the violence currently happening in Iran.
The concert takes place on Wednesday, March 15th at 7pm in Stuytown. It is free to attend and all donations go to the following beneficiary through Amnesty International's website.
The program will feature music of Donizetti, Massenet, Leoncavallo, as well as premieres by Felix Jarrar and lyrcisit/librettist Bea Goodwin.
Please DM us for the address of the concert and how to attend.
Guest artists:
Caroline Maria Spaeth
Miguel Angel Vasquez
Adam von Housen
James M. Brown
Join Grammy-nominated soprano Laura Strickling and pianist Daniel Schlosberg for a program of songs from her 40@40 Project, which will feature the NYC premiere of Jarrar's "Sun of the Sleepless" (text by Lord Byron). This song, written on commission for Laura, will be featured alongside new works by Tom Cipullo, Juliana Hall, and Lori Laitman, among other significant contemporary composers of song.
Join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for "OFF WITH HIS HEAD: a concert of excerpts from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux".
Donizetti's Roberto Devereux is the last work he wrote as part of the so-called 'Donizetti Queens' trilogy, a series of three operas that dramatize important icons in Tudor history. One of his finest operas, this work is a dramatic (and mostly ficticious) representation of the downfall of the Earl of Essex and the love triangle that leads to his tragic fate.
Acclaimed soprano Natalie Polito takes on the mantle of the notoriously challenging part of Elisabetta opposite rising tenor Gabriel Hernandez, who stars as the tituler Roberto. Joining them in this concert are bass-baritone Andrew Dwan as Nottingham and mezzo-soprano Rebecca Sacks, who will portray Sara. Felix Jarrar will accompany from the piano and serve as the music director/coach for this production.
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD: a concert of excerpts from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux" goes up at St. John's in the Village on Friday, April 21st, 2023 at 7pm.
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/off-with-his-head-a-concert-of-excerpts-from-donizettis-roberto-devereux-tickets-494215390537
SYMPHONY NO. 1 - BANISHING GRIEF by Felix Jarrar
May 13, 2023 at 7pm
Shea Theater Arts Center
Turners Falls, MA
The New England Repertory Orchestra (NERO) continues its work championing the voices of diverse composers and performers with a world premiere symphony by acclaimed pianist and composer Felix Jarrar, with soloists soprano Maria Brea and tenor Gabriel Enrique Hernandez, followed by one of the most moving symphonies of the 20th Century, a true celebration of the victory of the human spirit against oppression. Cailin Marcel Manson conducts.
Felix Jarrar
Symphony No. 1, "Banishing Grief"
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
Maria Brea, soprano
Gabriel Enrique Hernandez, tenor
Join acclaimed pianist/composer Felix Jarrar alongside soprano Caroline Spaeth, tenor David Rivera Bozón, and violist Justin Ouellett on Friday, May 19th at 7pm in Church of the Good Shepherd for a concert to support gun control and LGBTQIA+ rights. 100% of funds raised will go to Everytown and NAGLY.
The program will feature standard operatic repertoire by Meyerbeer, Puccini alongside the world premiere of Felix's solo viola sonata "Bye, Felicia" and a brand new viola + piano piece called "A Happiness to Dream". The program also features "There was a little girl" from Felix's second opera The Fall of the House of Usher and "Love Like Ours" from Felix's tenth opera Washington Square (libretto by Thomas Barrett Blakeley).
The concert is free to attend and there will be QR codes to donate to our selected beneficaries.
On May 28th at 6pm, join rising composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for an evening of works that celebrate love, madness, happiness, and finding your own voice. Jarrar is a composer of over 200 art songs and 13 operas and has premiered work he wrote all across the world the past year from Italy to LA. He now brings these programs of new works to Boston in a concert that solely consists of his original works. FOREVER IN A DREAM will feature Jarrar’s song cycle Mermaids Who Sing and Eclipse (with text by Bea Goodwin), in addition to his fiendishly disorientating Mad Song on a poem of William Blake. Featured guests are acclaimed sopranos Caroline Spaeth and Cynthia López Pérez.
There is NO cover or cost to attend, and all donations go to the artists on the program.
More info can be found here: https://www.clubcafe.com/club-events/josephines-composer-showcase-052823/
On Saturday June 10th at 7pm in St. John's in the Village, join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for an abridged concert version of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Premiered in 1831, the work was one of Meyerbeer's most successful and popular operas and catapulted him into considerable international fame.
After neglect from the repertoire during the 20th century, the opera is now making a return to stages around the world as Meyerbeer's work goes through a period of critical reappraisal. "Speak of the Devil" is a concert presentation that highlights some of the most famous and greatest parts of the work - such as the Evocation Scene - and brings it to audiences in an abridged version that clocks in at under 90 minutes.
Tenor Daniel Kamalic and soprano Caroline Spaeth star as Robert and Isabelle alongside bass Robert Ellsworth Feng as Bertram, soprano Rachel Hanauer as Alice, and tenor Douglas Sabo as Raimbaut.
Tickets for general admission are $15: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speak-of-the-devil-a-concert-version-of-meyerbeers-robert-le-diable-tickets-500979783017
On August 30th at 7:30pm in Opera America's Scorca Hall, join rising young soprano Alison Saporta and critically acclaimed composer & pianist Felix Jarrar for a vocal collaborative recital. This recital features music by Barber, Mozart, Schumann and the NYC Premiere of Jarrar's comedic song cycle Vampire Delights among other works. This eclectic program will make for a nostalgic night of music and memories at "Reminiscence".
Join Felix Jarrar and Robert Feng for the workshop performance of their new opera 'you do not recognize the bodies in the water' on November 22nd at 7pm in the Charles Mackay Studio. This opera is Jarrar’s 13th as composer and Feng’s 2nd as librettist, and their first operatic collaboration together.
In this horror opera, a woman convicted for arson is set free on the condition she works for a shadowy organization to discover the truth behind a series of disappearances at a lake. What she ends up finding is more unearthly and more sinister than she could've ever imagined. Introducing SCP-2316 the Opera: you do not recognize the bodies in the water.
Cast:
Taylor-Alexis DuPont (mezzo-soprano) - Mariah
Katharine Burns (soprano) - Dr. Wendy Leong
Darrell J. Jordan (baritone) - Mark
Annie Chester (mezzo-soprano) - Carol
Robert Feng (bass) - Interviewer
Bodies (chorus):
Rachel Hanauer (soprano)
Emma Dickinson (soprano)
Robert Feng (bass)
Jason Adamo (bass)
Felix Jarrar - piano/music director
WORKSHOP INFO
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/you-do-not-recognize-the-bodies-in-the-water-workshop-tickets-452172769927
DATE: 11/22/2022
LOCATION: Opera America (330 7th Ave 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001) - Charles Mackay Studio
TIME: 6:45pm doors open, 7:00pm show starts
TICKET PRICE: $10
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 Portrait, The 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 Carol, Tabula Rasa, HindSight, 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.
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.
February 26th, 2023 7:00pm
location: Stuytown in NYC (address sent to everyone who RSVPs via Groupmuse)
Join pianist/composer Felix Jarrar for his first concert of the year in New York City with Groupmuse in the city's Stuytown neighborhood. Tenor Douglas Sabo, soprano Caroline Maria Spaeth, and violinist Adam von Housen join him and perform an evening of music by Schumann, Brahms, Mozart, and compositions of Jarrar.
The concert features the world premiere of “You can’t get it up” and “Twerking near the paella”, for which Jarrar wrote both the music and text.
The concert takes place on Sunday, February 26th at 7:00pm. Door opens at 6:30pm and the suggested donation is $20, which all goes directly to the musicians.
Purchase tickets here: http://grpm.us/5afxXw
Join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar, mezzo-soprano Jessica Trainor-Tasucu, contralto Allison Gish, tenor Ryan Mangan, and baritone Miguel Angel Vasquez on Friday March 3rd at 7pm in the Charles MacKay Studio in Opera America as they live world premiere 14 songs that Jarrar wrote in the pandemic with various collaborators.
The program features the world premiere of "Wild West" and the song cycle French Kisses with texts by Bea Goodwin, the 2020 song cycle Happy (texts by the composer) and the cycle Sea Boy Barcarolles with texts by Ryan Mangan (who will also premiere them).
Tickets are $10 for this limited, one-night only engagement.
Women + Life + Freedom: a concert to benefit Amnesty International
Join the Jarrar and Brea Duo (Maria Brea and Felix Jarrar) and guest artists for a concert to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to raise money to investigate the violence currently happening in Iran.
The concert takes place on Wednesday, March 15th at 7pm in Stuytown. It is free to attend and all donations go to the following beneficiary through Amnesty International's website.
The program will feature music of Donizetti, Massenet, Leoncavallo, as well as premieres by Felix Jarrar and lyrcisit/librettist Bea Goodwin.
Please DM us for the address of the concert and how to attend.
Guest artists:
Caroline Maria Spaeth
Miguel Angel Vasquez
Adam von Housen
James M. Brown
Join Grammy-nominated soprano Laura Strickling and pianist Daniel Schlosberg for a program of songs from her 40@40 Project, which will feature the NYC premiere of Jarrar's "Sun of the Sleepless" (text by Lord Byron). This song, written on commission for Laura, will be featured alongside new works by Tom Cipullo, Juliana Hall, and Lori Laitman, among other significant contemporary composers of song.
Join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for "OFF WITH HIS HEAD: a concert of excerpts from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux".
Donizetti's Roberto Devereux is the last work he wrote as part of the so-called 'Donizetti Queens' trilogy, a series of three operas that dramatize important icons in Tudor history. One of his finest operas, this work is a dramatic (and mostly ficticious) representation of the downfall of the Earl of Essex and the love triangle that leads to his tragic fate.
Acclaimed soprano Natalie Polito takes on the mantle of the notoriously challenging part of Elisabetta opposite rising tenor Gabriel Hernandez, who stars as the tituler Roberto. Joining them in this concert are bass-baritone Andrew Dwan as Nottingham and mezzo-soprano Rebecca Sacks, who will portray Sara. Felix Jarrar will accompany from the piano and serve as the music director/coach for this production.
"OFF WITH HIS HEAD: a concert of excerpts from Donizetti's Roberto Devereux" goes up at St. John's in the Village on Friday, April 21st, 2023 at 7pm.
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/off-with-his-head-a-concert-of-excerpts-from-donizettis-roberto-devereux-tickets-494215390537
SYMPHONY NO. 1 - BANISHING GRIEF by Felix Jarrar
May 13, 2023 at 7pm
Shea Theater Arts Center
Turners Falls, MA
The New England Repertory Orchestra (NERO) continues its work championing the voices of diverse composers and performers with a world premiere symphony by acclaimed pianist and composer Felix Jarrar, with soloists soprano Maria Brea and tenor Gabriel Enrique Hernandez, followed by one of the most moving symphonies of the 20th Century, a true celebration of the victory of the human spirit against oppression. Cailin Marcel Manson conducts.
Felix Jarrar
Symphony No. 1, "Banishing Grief"
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5
Maria Brea, soprano
Gabriel Enrique Hernandez, tenor
Join acclaimed pianist/composer Felix Jarrar alongside soprano Caroline Spaeth, tenor David Rivera Bozón, and violist Justin Ouellett on Friday, May 19th at 7pm in Church of the Good Shepherd for a concert to support gun control and LGBTQIA+ rights. 100% of funds raised will go to Everytown and NAGLY.
The program will feature standard operatic repertoire by Meyerbeer, Puccini alongside the world premiere of Felix's solo viola sonata "Bye, Felicia" and a brand new viola + piano piece called "A Happiness to Dream". The program also features "There was a little girl" from Felix's second opera The Fall of the House of Usher and "Love Like Ours" from Felix's tenth opera Washington Square (libretto by Thomas Barrett Blakeley).
The concert is free to attend and there will be QR codes to donate to our selected beneficaries.
On May 28th at 6pm, join rising composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for an evening of works that celebrate love, madness, happiness, and finding your own voice. Jarrar is a composer of over 200 art songs and 13 operas and has premiered work he wrote all across the world the past year from Italy to LA. He now brings these programs of new works to Boston in a concert that solely consists of his original works. FOREVER IN A DREAM will feature Jarrar’s song cycle Mermaids Who Sing and Eclipse (with text by Bea Goodwin), in addition to his fiendishly disorientating Mad Song on a poem of William Blake. Featured guests are acclaimed sopranos Caroline Spaeth and Cynthia López Pérez.
There is NO cover or cost to attend, and all donations go to the artists on the program.
More info can be found here: https://www.clubcafe.com/club-events/josephines-composer-showcase-052823/
On Saturday June 10th at 7pm in St. John's in the Village, join composer/pianist Felix Jarrar for an abridged concert version of Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le diable. Premiered in 1831, the work was one of Meyerbeer's most successful and popular operas and catapulted him into considerable international fame.
After neglect from the repertoire during the 20th century, the opera is now making a return to stages around the world as Meyerbeer's work goes through a period of critical reappraisal. "Speak of the Devil" is a concert presentation that highlights some of the most famous and greatest parts of the work - such as the Evocation Scene - and brings it to audiences in an abridged version that clocks in at under 90 minutes.
Tenor Daniel Kamalic and soprano Caroline Spaeth star as Robert and Isabelle alongside bass Robert Ellsworth Feng as Bertram, soprano Rachel Hanauer as Alice, and tenor Douglas Sabo as Raimbaut.
Tickets for general admission are $15: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/speak-of-the-devil-a-concert-version-of-meyerbeers-robert-le-diable-tickets-500979783017
On August 30th at 7:30pm in Opera America's Scorca Hall, join rising young soprano Alison Saporta and critically acclaimed composer & pianist Felix Jarrar for a vocal collaborative recital. This recital features music by Barber, Mozart, Schumann and the NYC Premiere of Jarrar's comedic song cycle Vampire Delights among other works. This eclectic program will make for a nostalgic night of music and memories at "Reminiscence".
Join Felix Jarrar and Robert Feng for the workshop performance of their new opera 'you do not recognize the bodies in the water' on November 22nd at 7pm in the Charles Mackay Studio. This opera is Jarrar’s 13th as composer and Feng’s 2nd as librettist, and their first operatic collaboration together.
In this horror opera, a woman convicted for arson is set free on the condition she works for a shadowy organization to discover the truth behind a series of disappearances at a lake. What she ends up finding is more unearthly and more sinister than she could've ever imagined. Introducing SCP-2316 the Opera: you do not recognize the bodies in the water.
Cast:
Taylor-Alexis DuPont (mezzo-soprano) - Mariah
Katharine Burns (soprano) - Dr. Wendy Leong
Darrell J. Jordan (baritone) - Mark
Annie Chester (mezzo-soprano) - Carol
Robert Feng (bass) - Interviewer
Bodies (chorus):
Rachel Hanauer (soprano)
Emma Dickinson (soprano)
Robert Feng (bass)
Jason Adamo (bass)
Felix Jarrar - piano/music director
WORKSHOP INFO
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/you-do-not-recognize-the-bodies-in-the-water-workshop-tickets-452172769927
DATE: 11/22/2022
LOCATION: Opera America (330 7th Ave 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001) - Charles Mackay Studio
TIME: 6:45pm doors open, 7:00pm show starts
TICKET PRICE: $10
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 Portrait, The 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 Carol, Tabula Rasa, HindSight, 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.
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