Felix Jarrar, Composer-Pianist ~ fjarrar@marlboro.edu ~ (203-505-1477) ~ www.felixjarrarmusic.com ~ 

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Education
Brooklyn College – M.M. in Music Composition (Expected Graduation Date: Fall 2018 Semester)
Marlboro College – B.A. in Music Composition and Piano Performance (awarded May 2016, with Highest Honors)
Principal composition teachers: Tania León, Wang Jie, Stanley Charkey, and Matan Rubinstein 
Principal piano teachers: Robert Merfeld, Luis Batlle, and Burton Hatheway

Select List of Compositions
Works for voice:    
  • ​Songs of the Soul Beams: a theatrical song cycle with text by Brittany Goodwin (2017) – world premiered at BAM! (321 Ashland Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217), Sunday,  June 4th, 2017 
  • The Bukowski Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano (2017) – scheduled to be premiered at ConTempo Ensemble Concert in Brooklyn College (2900 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11210), May 1st, 2017
  • The Fall of the House of Usher: a chamber opera in four scenes (2016) – workshopped at the National Opera Center (NY, NY), June 30th, 2015 and premiered at Marlboro College (Marlboro, VT), March 28th and 29th, 2016, and performed at Mary Flagler Cary Hall in the DiMenna Center for Classical Music (NY, NY), April 15th and 16th, 2016
  • Schilflieder for soprano and piano (2013) – performed at Jesse Lee United Methodist Church (Easton, CT) January 5th, 2014 and Marlboro College, December 11th, 2013     
  • Songs of Loss for tenor or baritone and piano (2011) – performed at Webster University (St. Louis, MO), December 3rd, 2011 and St. Paul's Church (NY, NY) (complete), September 11th, 2011 (excerpts)    
  • Apollo and Hermes: an opera in two acts (2011) – performed (excerpts in piano score) at Symphony Space in Lincoln Center (NY, NY), March 31st, 2012

Works for piano:
  • Passerine Pieces (2016) – performed at Marlboro College, April 29th, 2016 
  • Introduction, Prelude, and Fugue on a theme of Mendelssohn in A major (2013)
  • Capriccio (2013) – performed at Marlboro College, May 10th, 2013
  • Toccata and Fugue on a theme of Mozart in G minor (2013) – performed at Lorimer Chapel in Colby College, July 26th, 2015, Marlboro College, May 1st, 2014 and May 10th, 2013, and Barnes Hall at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), January 31st, 2014
  • Rhapsody in D major (2011) – performed at Ehrbar Hall (Vienna, Austria), July 18th, 2012 and Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), July 9th, 2011

Works for chamber ensemble:
  • String Quartet no. 1 "Mosaic of Myself: A Walt Whitman Experience" featuring baritone (2016) – premiered and recorded at The Church of the Intercession in NYC, December 10th 2016
  • Variations on a Dirge: duo for flute and guitar (2016) – premiered and recorded at the highSCORE music festival in Pavia, Italy, August 10th, 2016
  • A Pastoral Joke: duo for violin and harp (2015) – recorded at the Atlantic Music Festival, August 1st, 2015
  • Fantasy Piece for pierrot ensemble (flute doubling piccolo, clarinet in A doubling bass clarinet, glockenspiel, violin, cello, and piano) (2015) – recorded at the Atlantic Music Festival, July 15th, 2015
  • 'A 19th – Century Ballade' for string trio (violin, viola, and cello) (2015) – read at Marlboro College, December 14th, 2015
  • Diva Showdown: duo for flute and oboe (2013) – performed at Walden Creative Musicians Retreat (Dublin, NH), June 20th, 2014

Works for orchestra:
  • Pastiche after J. S. Bach ​(2, 1+cor ang, 1+bass, 2  – 2, 1, 2, 0  – timp, str) (2015) – read and recorded by the Atlantic Music Festival Orchestra, July 15th, 2015

Arrangements and transcriptions:
  • Music for ‘Happy End’ by Kurt Weill for trumpet, french horn, alto saxophone, percussion, banjo, piano, singers, and chorus (2014) – performed at Marlboro College, November 21st and 22nd, 2014

Select Composition Competition Wins
  • 2017 Kaddish Millet ‘48 Composition Award for special talent in songwriting from Brooklyn College 
  • 2017 Sparks & Wiry Cries songSLAM competition,  2nd place
  • 2012 Golden Key Festival International Piano Composition Competition, 3rd place
  • 2011 Webster University National Young Composers Competition, Honorable Mention
  • 2010 MTNA Connecticut State Composition Competition, 1st place    
  • 2010 Tribeca New Music Young Composers Competition (formerly New York Arts Ensemble), Emerging Composer Award
  • 2009 National Federation of Music Clubs National Junior Composition Competition, 2nd place

Select Piano Competition Wins
  • 2017 ConTempo Ensemble Performance Award from Brooklyn College
  • 2012 American Fine Arts Festival, 1st Place, Winner's Recital at Carnegie Hall (NY, NY), May 2012
  • (2009, 2010 & 2012) Golden Key Festival, three-time 1st place prizewinner, Winner's Recitals at Carnegie Hall, May 2009, May 2010 & May 2012
  • 2011 Eastern Connecticut Orchestra Concerto Competition, 2nd place, Scholarship for music studies
  • 2010 American Fine Arts Festival Chopin Bicentennial Concert, selected participant, Winner's Recital at Carnegie Hall, November 2010
  • 2010 American Protege Romantic Music Competition, 2nd place, Winner's Recital at Carnegie Hall, October 2010    ​(2009 & 2010) American Protege International Piano Competition, two-time 2nd place prizewinner, Winner's Recitals at Merkin Concert Hall, February 2009 and Carnegie Hall, March 2010
  • 2009 Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, 1st place, Winner's Recital at Carnegie Hall, May 2009 (Carnegie Hall debut)

Select Performances (Solo Recitals, Chamber Music Performances, & Orchestral Performances)
  • Lecture-Recital at Marlboro College, April 29th, 2016 
  • Recital with flutist Nancy Son in Ragle Hall at Marlboro College, May 1st, 2014
  • Recital with pianist John Stetch at Barnes Hall in Cornell University (Ithaca, NY), January 31st, 2014
  • Freshmen Recitals in Ragle Hall, December 6th, 2012 and May 10th, 2013
  • Ensemble Pianist for Windham Symphony's performances of Stravinsky's 'Symphony of Psalms' (Brattleboro, VT and Bellows Falls, VT), January 25th and 27th, 2013

Summer Festivals and Internships
  • Fall 2017 Composition Residency with the Brooklyn College Jazz Ensemble
  • Internship with Theater Director/writer Brittany Goodwin to write a theatrical song cycle based on her original poetry and perform it at BAM (NY, NY), May 1st, 2017 - June 4th, 2017
  • highSCORE Festival Composition Program (Pavia, Italy), August 1st – August 13th, 2016
  • Atlantic Music Festival Composition Program (Waterville, ME), July 6th – August 2nd, 2015
  • Opera Development Internship (NY, NY), June 1st – July 1st, 2015
  • Walden Creative Musicians Retreat (Dublin, NH), June 14th – June 22nd, 2014
  • Ithaca Summer Piano Institute (Ithaca, NY), June 30th – July 9th, 2011

Scholarships and Grants
  • 2017 Chancey Memorial Scholarship in Music from Brooklyn College
  • 2017 Cerf Scholarship in Music from Brooklyn College 
  • 2016 William Davisson Prize for extraordinary contributions to the Marlboro community
  • 2016 Marlboro College Town Meeting Scholarship for Bowling Green State University Graduate Student Conference travel expenses
  • 2016 Senior Plan Grant for production of my original opera, ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ 
  • 2015 – 2016 Marlboro College Jerom I. Aron Grant for collaborative work on the production of The Fall of the House of Usher
  • 2015 – 2016 recipient of Marlboro College's M. Brenn Greene Scholarship 
  • 2015 Marlboro College Town Meeting Scholarship for work on the production of The Fall of the House of Usher 
  • 2015 Marlboro College Summer Internship Grant for Opera Development Internship 
  • 2014 Marlboro College World Studies Grant for summer research about pitch perception in Canada
  • 2014 – 2019 Scholarship from Wednesday Afternoon Music Club

Conferences
  • 2016 Bowling Green State University Graduate Student Conference – presentation of paper “Die Lorelei: an examination of three versions of Liszt’s text setting of Heine”, March 4th  - 5th, 2016 in Bowling Green, Ohio