A new jazz opera with score by Felix Jarrar, libretto by Bea (Brittány) Goodwin. Tabula Rasa explores the real-life impulse and heartbreak of Kiki de Montparnasse and her liberating romantic escapades with artists throughout the 1920s in the Montparnasse quarters of Paris.
Performances MAY 4-5, 11-12, 2018 at 8pm
Blue Building: 222 E 46th St, New York New York 10017
Tabula Rasa is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. LMCC.net. Lower Manhattan Cultural Council empowers artists by providing them with networks, resources, and support, to create vibrant, sustainable communities in Lower Manhattan and beyond.
Tabula Rasa is made possible in part with funds from the Sparkplug Foundation.
About the creators:
Librettist Bea (Brittány) Goodwin. Photo credit: John Stetch
Lyricist/Librettist Bea (Brittány) Goodwin is fresh off her premier at BAM with her Songs of the Soul Beams, brought sonically to life by composer Felix Jarrar. She is writing an adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis for composter Chris Poovey at the University of Northern Texas that will also have it’s premier this spring. She has written adaptations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and A Christmas Carol. She has staged her original works as well as "the greats" at La Mama Experimental Theatre, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, BAM and National Opera Center. For more on this artist, @be_goodwin . begoodwin.com
Composer Felix Jarrar. Photo Credit: John Stetch
Composer-pianist Felix Jarrar has performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall. He won prizes in composition competitions held by the National Federation of Music Clubs, Sparks Wiry & Cries, the New York Arts Ensemble, the Connecticut Music Teachers National Association, and Webster University. His second opera, The Fall of the House of Usher, has deep personal resonance for him. The work world premiered in a fully-staged production in March 2016 at Marlboro College in Vermont. The opera received its New York premiere at the DiMenna Center that April. Jarrar presented his analysis paper, Die Lorelei, at the 2016 BGSU Graduate Student Conference. This past December, his first string quartet, Mosaic of Myself: a Walt Whitman Experience, premiered at the Church of the Intercession. His latest project, Songs of the Soul Beams, with a libretto by Brittany Goodwin, premiered at BAM on June 4th, 2017. Jarrar loves to read, hike, and watch reruns of Law and Order SVU. Jarrar received a B.A. from Marlboro College with highest honors, and studied composition with Stanley Charkey and piano with Robert Merfeld. He is currently pursuing a M.M. in composition at Brooklyn College on the Cerf Music Scholarship.
Photo Credit: John Stetch