DIRECTOR, DESIGNER and PRODUCER JAMES DARRAH's visually arresting work at the intersection of theater, opera and film has become known for a singular cinematic elegance that is “experimenting and forging a new art form.” (The Wall Street Journal) His recent work as a director, screenwriter, and GRAMMY award-nominated music producer includes projects that continue to explore the merger of genres including film, television, pop culture and opera. He is the third Artistic Director and first Chief Creative Officer leading Long Beach Opera, was Creative Director for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s work in 2020/21 and explored operatic filmmaking—including a stop motion animated feature-length film of Philip Glass’ Edgar Allan Poe adaptation The Fall of the House of Usher and the acclaimed world premiere of Desert In, an original opera as an online miniseries.
With Opera Philadelphia, he made numerous new productions including the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves, Handel’s Semele and was the producer, production designer and screenwriter for the Grammy-nominated film adaptation of Soldier Songs by composer David T. Little. He also wrote, directed, produced a film adaptation of Poulenc’s La voix humaine starring soprano Patricia Racette.
He has developed and directed numerous acclaimed staged world premieres including Kate Soper’s The Romance of the Rose (Long Beach Opera) in 2023, Reid's Pulitzer Prize-winning opera p r i s m (LA Opera/Prototype), Missy Mazzoli's operas Breaking the Waves (Opera Philadelphia) and Proving Up (Opera Omaha/Miller Theater New York), Michael Tilson Thomas’ Four Preludes on Playthings on the Wind (SF Symphony, LA Phil, New World Symphony in Miami), The Brightness of Light by Kevin Puts with Reneé Fleming at Tanglewood ( Boston Symphony Orchestra), and Academy Award-winner John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries (The Santa Fe Opera). He also has crafted the U.S. West Coast premieres of Jennifer Higdon’s opera Cold Mountain and Jonathan Dove’s operas The Other Euridice and Flight. Darrah’s music videos for opera artists including Joyce DiDonato and Jakub Józef Orlinski are known for “enigmatic twists” (NPR) and have been distributed by the Warner Music and Erato record labels. Darrah was previously Artistic Director of Opera Omaha’s ONE Festival from 2016-2021, where he was praised for "expanding the boundaries of the operatic form" (The Wall Street Journal) by establishing a first-of-its-kind residency for artists in the operatic genre.
He is deeply committed to cultivating the next generation of performers and was recently appointed Professor of Music and Director of Opera at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music. He served as Creative Director of Music Academy of the West’s Vocal Institute from 2017-2022, was Artist in Residence and creative producer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2022, and teaches production design in the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television graduate program. He has been profiled in C Magazine, GQ-Europe, the Los Angeles Times, SF Classical Voice, Alta Magazine, and ALL ARTS NY. He is a winner of the national Princess Grace Award in Theater, was a nominee for Best New Director in the International Opera Awards, and has had two world premiere opera productions win the MCNA Critics’ annual Best New Opera Award.
He is a native of San Antonio, Texas and lives in Los Angeles, California.
UPCOMING PROJECTS and full credits can be found on the calendar.
PRESS QUOTES can be found via publicist Aleba and Co.
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General Management and Representation -Worldwide //
Opus 3 Artists- Liesl Kundert
212-584-7526
lkundert@opus3artists.com
Publicity and PR //
Aleba & Co.- Aleba Gartner
212-206-1450
aleba@alebaco.com
Long Beach Opera PR //
LBO Director of Marketing & Brand- Greer Cohen
greer@longbeachopera.org