Photo credit: 360 of Opera/Diego Valdez There are two certainties during the holiday season: Santa and countless performances of Händel’s “Messiah.” The two collided on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, when composer and pianist Felix Jarrar brought his subversive rendition of Part one of the baroque masterpiece to Rockwood Music Hall, this on the same day as the infamous bacchanal that {…}
On Oct. 31, Barn Opera in Vermont will release the virtual video recording “The Cask of Amontillado.” The premiere recording will be released on the company’s YouTube Channel at 6 p.m. EDT. “The Cask of Amontillado” is Jarrar’s ninth opera, which is based on the eponymous short story by Edgar Allan Poe. It is the fourth chamber opera Jarrar has {…}
Prolific young composer and pianist Felix Jarrar’s ninth opera will premiere virtually on Oct. 31, 2021, and in keeping with the Halloween season, his latest chamber opera is based on an Edgar Allan Poe story. This time around, Jarrar’s libretto is an adaptation of “The Cask of Amontillado” which relates the tale of a quest for a bottle of Spanish {…}
Vermont’s Barn Opera has announced “La Traviata” as the new Barn Opera House’s inaugural production. The show will run Oct. 15 and 16, 2021. Verdi’s tragic masterpiece will feature soprano Kasey King as the party-loving escort Violetta Valéry, with tenor Chris Plaas as the smitten Alfredo Germont. Baritone Nicholas Tocci sings the role of Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, whose ambitions {…}
Emerging Artists Theatre is set to present Felix Jarrar’s “Mother Goose” at the TADA! Theater in New York on Oct. 5 and 6. The opera, which had its world premiere in late 2019, tells the story of Leonora Goosling, the keeper of the Mother Goose Inn and Suites, and her unique guests from numerous famed fairy tales. The opera will {…}
Composer/pianist Felix Jarrar and lyricist/librettist Thomas Barrett Blakeley have announced the digital release of Act one of “Washington Square” exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Act two of the opera will be available later in 2021. The chamber opera, based on Henry James’ novel of the same title, is Jarrar’s tenth operatic work and a first for Blakeley. The libretto relates the {…}
Fresh Squeezed Opera will present its Vocal Lab premieres on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. The showcase, which will be streamed on its Facebook and YouTube pages, will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Audiences will get a chance to hear “The Voice of the Rain” by Ian Chung featuring Victoria Benson; “Song of Hypatia” by Holly Winter starring Kate Lipow; Leo {…}
Photo Credits: Stephanie Gross/Laura Isabella Redivivus Opera is set to present “Haute Mess,” an online concert presenting the music of Felix Jarrar, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill, and others. The concert is scheduled to stream on YouTube on July 7, 2021 at 7:00 pm EDT, and will feature crossover soprano Laura Isabella, with Jarrar accompanying on the piano. Jarrar, who has written {…}
Chicago-based /kor/ productions kicks off the first production of its 2021-22 hybrid season with “PRIDE” on June 24, 2021, at 8:00 pm EDT. This virtual event will feature world premieres of new songs written by award-winning composer Felix Jarrar, and performed by soprano Tracy Cox and bass-baritone Joseph Beutel. In a press release, /kor/ noted that the songs written for “PRIDE” experiment with {…}
Composer Felix Jarrar is set to present a virtual piano / vocal workshop of his upcoming opera “The Tell Tale Heart” on Sunday, April 25, 2021. The opera is based on the famed story by Edgar Allan Poe and will star soprano Savannah Greene as the Narrator alongside baritone Aaron Stepanek, soprano Hannah Madeleine Goodman, contralto Allison Gish, and tenor {…}
Composer/pianist Felix Jarrar, along with soprano Caroline Spaeth, mezzo-soprano Eugenia Forteza, and La Cuarta Productions is set to premiere “Change Comes in Full Glory” on Sunday, April 11, 2021, at 5:00 p.m. EDT. The program features a cantata entitled “The Unsleeping Ones,” as well as two additional pieces penned by Jarrar. The concert will stream on the Sparrow Live platform. {…}
