James Darrah News

Los Angeles Opera was the first to launch original programming in response to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Because of the success of its online  programming, LAO decided to make that feature a permanent part of its offering and to give it a name that reflects fresh and innovative interpretations of the art form. Welcome to LA Opera On Now.

A new Digital Short from composer Missy Mazzoli has premiered online today (Friday, January 15). Presented free of charge, The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings will stream through January 29.

The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings will stream for free Jan. 15-29. The promise of the American dream runs up against hard realities and uncontrollable forces in this new digital short from Missy Mazzoli, composer of Song from the Uproar and Breaking the Waves. James Darrah directs this video that tells of a ghostly sodbuster.

David T. Little’s Soldier Songs has been hailed for its powerful exploration of the perceptions versus the realities of war. Based on interviews with veterans of five wars, the acclaimed opera premieres as a film on Friday, January 22, 2021 on the Opera Philadelphia Channel. 

This month, LA Opera presents the premieres of new Digital Shorts from two of today's most prominent female composers, Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid. Part of the company's On Now platform of online programming, offered free of charge to viewers, Digital Shorts are new commissions which pair gifted composers and visual artists.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra continues its all-digital 2020-21 Season, CLOSE QUARTERS, with an entire episode spotlighting the exceptional artistry of LACO Artistic Advisor Derrick Spiva Jr., a composer and musician whose music, infused with cross cultural elements, is “something to savor” and “enormous fun to listen to” (Los Angeles Times).

David T. Little’s Soldier Songs has been hailed for its powerful exploration of the perceptions versus the realities of war. Based on interviews with veterans of five wars, the piece combining elements of theater, opera, and rock-infused concert music has received several imaginative stage productions.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra will continue its all-digital 2020-21 Season, CLOSE QUARTERS, with two varied  visual episodes curated musically by Latin GRAMMY®-nominated composer Juan Pablo Contreras, premiering Fridays, January 1 and January 15, 2021, 6:30 pm (PT).

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) continues its all-digital 2020-21 season, LACO: Close Quarters, with “Bach's Brandenburg 5” featuring Music Director Jaime Martín on flute, Assistant Concertmaster Tereza Stanislav on violin and Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane on fortepiano.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO), continues its all-digital 2020-21 season, entitled LACO: Close Quarters, with Copland’s masterpiece Appalachian Spring conducted by Music Director Jaime Martín with LACO Conductor Laureate Jeffrey Kahane on piano in their first joint appearance.

The “digitally native” programs, created specifically for streaming, are each between 30 and 40 minutes in length and are filmed at The Colburn School's Olive Rehearsal Hall. In addition, Darrah has established a creative hub for developing artistic media content with L.A.-based artists and filmmakers at a first-of-its-kind LACO digital studio at Wilhardt & Naud, a film studio and multidisciplinary arts campus located in Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles.

The Music Academy of the West has  announced that Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) will be in residence in Santa Barbara next year.

The Santa Fe Opera’s General Director Robert K. Meya announced today the company’s exciting return to the stage in 2021 with the repertory, principal singers, conductors, directors and designers scheduled for its 64th Season.

Music Academy of the West has announced that Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) will be in residence in Santa Barbara next year.

For DESERT IN, a new series commissioned for the soon-to-launch streaming service operabox.tv, two established TV writer/producer/directors will lead a team of early-career playwrights to bring crisp storytelling and a TV-informed approach to opera for the first time.

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, led by Music Director Jaime Martín, announces its 2020-21 Season, entitled LACO Close Quarters, featuring a robust slate of 16 original digital programs with sweeping repertoire and compelling visual elements directed by groundbreaking director/designer/artist James Darrah, who has been named 2020-21 Creative Director of Digital Content.

LA Opera announced today that it is postponing four productions that were scheduled for later this year to the fall of 2021 due to concerns for artist and patron safety regarding COVID-19.

Based in the Rocky Mountain resort city of Sun Valley, Idaho, the Sun Valley Music Festival kicks off its 36th annual Summer Season virtually-offering one-time-only webcasts from July 27 to August 19.

Festival Music Director Alasdair Neale and Executive Director Derek Dean today announced the schedule of online events for the recently announced, virtual reimagining of the 36th annual Sun Valley Music Festival Summer Season.

On May 29, 2020, Opera Philadelphia presented the digital premiere of Royce Vavrek and Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves, a story based on the 1996 international film of the same name directed by Lars von Trier. Winner of the Music Critics Association of North America 2017 award for Best New Opera, the story took place in the 1970s at a seaside settlement in the Scottish Highlands.