Felix
Jarrar
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Schedule
Upcoming Engagements
Description
Assistant Conductor for Bizet's Carmen at Florida Grand Opera.
Felix Jarrar
Assistant Conductor
Dates
Joseph Canuto Leon
Moralès
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Tags
Mary Burke Barber
Mercédès
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Tags
Description
Mexican-American composer Nathan Felix will present his immersive opera titled Mirrors at the The Bass Museum of Art (2100 Collins Ave) in Miami on Thursday May 15th at 7:00pm for Third Thursday. Mirrors is inspired by their exhibition, Performing Perspectives: A Collection in Dialogue.
The narrative for the immersive opera follows two immigrant nurses who struggle with new identity and cultural challenges in the USA. The women worry if their future children and grandchildren will face the discrimination they endured. Audience members are encouraged to follow the opera singers as they sing and weave through the museum galleries to tell this story. The cast features local singers and musicians from Miami and the surrounding region including Yingxi Li (soprano), Mark Cotton (baritone), Madison Marie McIntosh (mezzo-soprano), and Pedro Carreras (tenor). The conductor for the opera is Felix Jarrar and the string ensemble consists of Naeun Ju on violin, Angie Bolivar on viola and Natalie Van Winkle on cello.
Felix Jarrar
Conductor
Dates
Recent Highlights
Description
Assistant conductor for Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore at Florida Grand Opera.
Felix Jarrar
Assistant Conductor
Dates
Description
In the throes of the Roaring 20’s, it was neither the bootleggers, Broadway producers, nor Wall Street bankers who held the secrets the decade. It was Polly Adler, a Madam of notoriety who ran a house that entertained the likes of New York’s most powerful players of the 1920’s. From her beginnings as a Belarusian-Jewish immigrant, Polly Adler ushered in the modern-era of sex work, becoming a successful and influential figure in her own right. Written by exciting libretto and music duo, Felix Jarrar and Bea Goodwin, Madam tells the story of a young woman’s journey to find home, and the lessons she learns along the way.
Felix Jarrar
Composer
Dates
Description
I am honored to be engaged as the 2024 Resident Artist Coach for Opera Naples. I will be heading down to Florida in mid-January for two months to coach the young artist program and serve as the principal rehearsal pianist for the company's production of Puccini's masterpiece Madama Butterfly with musical direction by maestro Ramón Tebar. I will also assist rehearsals as needed for their production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe. Additionally, I will program and perform concerts throughout the region with the resident artists that I will coach.
Felix Jarrar
Coach/Pianist
Dates
Description
I will head to Memphis, Tennessee for a month to serve as the rehearsal pianist and guest coach for the University of Memphis’s spring production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Felix Jarrar
Rehearsal Pianist and Guest Coach
Dates
Description
Vocal Collaborative Piano Fellow (Teaching Artist Fellow) for the 210 festival with OPERA San Antonio for the month of June 2024.
Felix Jarrar
Vocal Collaborative Pianist Fellow
Dates
Description
In Pompadour Porcelain, my 12th opera and second drag work in the genre, I brings the audience into a fantasy fiction world of 1750s Versailles during the time of Louis the Beloved. Madame de Pompadour is throwing one of her fabulous parties in the gardens, but a warning during a late night visit from her fortune teller Madame de Lebon threatens to uproot her festivities. The king’s obnoxious daughter, Princess Adélaïde of France, is planning to embarrass Pompadour at her latest party. Fate now lies in the hands of Madame de Lebon and the fabulous porcelain statues Pompadour collects, which under de Lebon’s spell magically come to life. Can these dancing porcelain pieces vogue and catwalk their way to a win for Pompadour against the conniving Princess Adélaïde during a showdown in the gardens?
Felix Jarrar
Composer/librettist
Dates
Description
I am thrilled to announce my summer engagement as the 2024 Resident Artist Pianist & Coach for Opera North’s upcoming Summerfest. I’ll serve as the rehearsal pianist for Offenbach's Orphee aux enfers, Verdi's Rigoletto and Sondheim's Into the Woods (Keyboard Artist in orchestra)
Felix Jarrar
Resident Artist Pianist & Coach
Dates
Description
I am thrilled to announce my next engagement as Music Director/Répétiteur for the workshop of Kindred, a new opera by six time Grammy Award winning composer Billy Childs and librettist Sarah LaBrie at NYC’s historic Apollo Theater.
Apollo New Works invites you to be among the first to hear excerpts from a new opera by Grammy Award winning artist Billy Childs. Commissioned by Apollo New Works In Process Series, Billy has adapted Octavia Butler's Kindred with a musical score rooted in the historical traditions of opera, while at the same time representative of Black American Music.
Libretto by Sarah LaBrie, Directed by Kimille Howard, Musical Direction by Felix Jarrar and featuring Alex Richardson and Krysty Swann
Presentations October 18th and 19th
Apollo's Victoria Theater 1
233 W. 125th Street, 3rd Floor
We look forward to seeing you!
Felix Jarrar
Music Director
Dates
Description
Uncover the chilling tale of one of America's earliest and most infamous murder cases in Hindsight, a gripping new contemporary opera by composer Felix Jarrar and librettist Bea Goodwin. Set in 1919 Hyde Park, Hindsight dives deep into the dark history of Chicago, exploring the horrifying actions of Leopold and Loeb—two men who believed themselves above the law. This haunting story of madness, murder, and unchecked white supremacy takes you into the minds of these notorious killers, revealing the chilling depths of human evil.
Felix Jarrar
Composer
Dates
Description
Assistant conductor for Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at Florida Grand Opera.
Felix Jarrar
Assistant Conductor
Dates
Description
Collaborative pianist for rehearsals of Penn Square Music Festival's production of Moravec/Campbell's "Sanctuary Road".
Felix Jarrar
Pianist
Dates
Eric McKeever
Performer
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Description
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
Felix Jarrar
Composer/Pianist
Dates
Description
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.
Felix Jarrar
Composer/pianist
Dates
Description
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
Felix Jarrar
composer/pianist
Dates
Description
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.
Felix Jarrar
Composer
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Juliana Hall
Composer
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Tags
Description
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
Felix Jarrar
Music Director/Pianist
Dates
Rebecca Sacks
Sara
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Tags
Description
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
Felix Jarrar
Composer
Dates
Description
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.
Felix Jarrar
Composer/pianist/music director
Dates
Description
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/
Felix Jarrar
Composer
Dates
Description
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
Felix Jarrar
Music Director/Pianist
Dates
Felix Jarrar
Music Director/Pianist
Dates
Robert Feng
Bertram
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Tags
Felix Jarrar
Music Director/Pianist
Dates
Felix Jarrar
Music Director/Pianist
Dates
Robert Feng
Bertram
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Tags
Description
I am elated to announce that I will be the Pianist/Coach for Hogfish in Maine for the Summer 2023 season and the orchestrator for their production of CarmXn, a brand-new adaptation of Bizet’s masterpiece Carmen.
Felix Jarrar
Pianist/coach/orchestrator
Dates
Gabriel Hernandez
Remendado/Don Jose cover
Dates
Tags
Description
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".
Felix Jarrar
pianist and composer
Dates
Felix Jarrar
Collaborative pianist/continuo
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Description
Kick off the holiday season with a BANG at our drunk sing along of Handel's Messiah. Featuring some of the best talent in NYC, join us at Frankie's Pub in NYC, for a fun and irreverent sing along of everyone's favorite Holiday Classic.
Featuring:
- Felix Jarrar
- James M. Brown
- Bryan DeParsia
- Jay Saint Flono
- Creatine Price
Free admission! Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/handels-messiah-a-drunk-sing-along-tickets-758287978757
Felix Jarrar
Collaborative pianist
Dates
Felix Jarrar
Assistant Director
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Felix Jarrar
Assistant Music Director/Pianist/Coach
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Felix Jarrar
Composer/Music Director/Pianist
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Felix Jarrar
Répétiteur
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Jaime Sharp
Aunt Lou, Taller Zegner Daughter
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Kayla Oderah
Zegner Daughter, Littler
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Description
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
Felix Jarrar
composer/music director/pianist
Dates
Robert Feng
Body/Interviewer
Dates
Description
I'm thrilled to be sharing duties for the part of the 2nd pianist for the workshop of The Righetous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith in collaboration with The Santa Fe Opera and Mannes Opera
Felix Jarrar
2nd pianist
Dates
Teresa Perrotta
Shiela
Dates
Biography
Felix Jarrar is a multidisciplinary artist, distinguished as a composer, coach and conductor. His music has been praised for its "dreamlike" quality (Boston Globe) and "delightfully cruel" edge (Operawire). Jarrar's compositions have been noted to "flow from him in the most natural and lively way" (Tom Cipullo).
Jarrar has had the privilege of collaborating with numerous esteemed organizations, including Santa Fe Opera, OPERA San Antonio, The New School, Opera Naples, Opera North, Opera Ithaca, Penn Square Opera, Hogfish, University of Memphis and the iconic Apollo Theater. For the 2024/2025 season, he will serve as Assistant Conductor with Florida Grand Opera, working on productions of Die Zauberflöte, L'elisir d'amore, and Carmen.
Jarrar's impressive compositional catalog comprises 275 works, including 235 art songs, 14 operas, 2 string quartets, and a symphony. He has received notable commissions from and been underwritten by the New England Repertory Orchestra, University of Missouri Kansas City, Prismatic Arts Ensemble, Off the Chamber, Spark Duo, Idaho Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. His operas have been produced by Landlocked Opera, Chicago Fringe Opera, /kor/ productions, Opera Elect, and New Wave Opera, amongst others. His song "Sun of the Sleepless" was featured on the 2024 GRAMMY-nominated album 40@40 by Laura Strickling and Daniel Schlosberg.
Felix Jarrar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Marlboro College, where he graduated with highest honors in music composition and piano performance. He earned his Master of Music degree from Brooklyn College, receiving the Graduate Dean's Award in Music Composition. Jarrar's musical training was influenced by his studies with Jason Eckardt, Stanley Charkey, Tania León, and Robert Merfeld, as well as mentorship from piano pedagogue Burton Hatheway.
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