James Darrah
Professor

James Darrah joined The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty as the director of Opera UCLA in 2024. Darrah is a GRAMMY Award-nominated director and of opera, theater and film who 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, producer includes projects that continue to explore the merging of film, television and opera. He is the artistic director and chief creative officer of Long Beach Opera and was the creative director for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s digital content in 2020/21. In 2021/22 he also completed two cinematic opera projects with Boston Lyric Opera: a new 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 operatic miniseries.

With Opera Philadelphia, he has made numerous new productions including the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves and was the producer, production designer and screenwriter for the  GRAMMY-nominated film adaptation of Soldier Songs by composer David T. Little. He wrote, directed, produced a film adaptation of Poulenc’s La voix humaine starring the soprano Patricia Racette.

His track record developing and directing acclaimed stage world premieres includes 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), 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 (Santa Fe Opera). He also has crafted the U.S. West Coast premieres of Jennifer Higdon’s opera Cold Mountain and Jonathan Dove’s 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.

James Darrah is a native of San Antonio, Texas and lives in Los Angeles, California.

GRAMMY-Nominated Opera Director James Darrah Joins The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Critically Acclaimed New Director of Opera UCLA Brings Bold Vision and Experimental Philosophy to Students James Darrah, the GRAMMY Award-nominated director/producer of acclaimed and innovative opera and film productions will
Peter Kazaras
Distinguished Professor - Director of Opera UCLA
Vladimir Chernov
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance
Ryan Brown
Lecturer - Choral Studies and Music Education
Neal Stulberg
Professor - Conducting, Director of Orchestral Studies
James Bass
Professor and Chair of the Department of Music, Director of Choral Studies
Peter Golub
Lecturer - Composition, Music and Film
Theresa Dimond
Lecturer - Percussion Performance
Michael Dean
Professor - Voice Performance
Dwayne Milburn
Lecturer - Conducting and Composition
Lucy Yates
Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching
Mildred Yi
Lecturer - Music Education
Che-Yen Chen
Professor - Viola Performance
Lily Chen-Hafteck
Professor - Music Education, Special Assistant to the Inaugural Dean for Curricular Reform
Joshua Ranz
Lecturer - Clarinet Performance
Arturo O’Farrill
Director, UCLA Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra; Professor
Inna Faliks
Professor - Head of Piano
Brendan McBrien
Lecturer - Music Education
William Kinderman
Distinguished Professor and Elaine Krown Klein Chair in Performance Studies
David Kaplan
Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance
Ben Hong
Lecturer - Cello Performance
Jens Lindemann
Distinguished Professor - Trumpet Performance
Nick DePinna
Adjunct Assistant Professor - Musicianship
Gloria Cheng
Adjunct Professor - Contemporary Music, Performance Studies
Iris Malkin
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Ji Young An
Lecturer - Violin Performance
Shahab Paranj
Gramian-Emrani Postdoctoral Fellow in Music and Lecturer - Composition, contemporary concert music
David Lefkowitz
Professor - Composition, Vice Chair of the Department of Music
Movses Pogossian
Distinguished Professor of Violin; Founder and Advisor, Armenian Music Program - Music Performance
Gregory Goodall
Lecturer - Percussion Performance
Victoria Kirsch
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Lou Anne Neill
Lecturer - Harp Performance, Harp LA Philharmonic
Andrew Ordonez
Events Manager - Department of Music Performance, Education and Composition
Wendy Richman
Lecturer - Performance Studies
James Lent
Lecturer - Collaborative Piano
Wendy Caldwell
Lecturer - Vocal Coaching
Travis J. Cross
Professor - Conducting, Director of Bands
Cheryl Lin Fielding
Lecturer - Vocal Diction and Vocal Coaching
Richard Danielpour
Distinguished Professor; Director of Gramian-Emrani Center for Iranian Music
Melissa Bilal
The Promise Chair in Armenian Music, Arts, and Culture, Director of Armenian Music Program
Jonathan Davis
Lecturer - Oboe Performance
Rakefet Hak
Lecturer - Music Director of Opera UCLA
Dante De Silva
Lecturer - Composition and Music Theory
Chris Hanulik
Adjunct Professor - String Bass Performance; Principal Bass LA Phil
Camilo Cedeno
Assistant to the Chair - Department of Music Performance, Education and Composition
Boris Allakhverdyan
Lecturer - Clarinet Performance, Principal Clarinet LA Philharmonic
Alison Deane
Associate Adjunct Professor
Christoph Bull
Adjunct Professor - Organ Performance
Juliana Gondek
Distinguished Professor - Voice Performance
Ian Krouse
Distinguished Professor - Co-Area Head, Composition
Sarah Koo Freeman
Visiting Professor - Cello Performance
James Miller
Lecturer - Trombone Performance, Associate Principal Trombone LA Phil
Noah Meites
Lecturer - Music Theory
Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen
Assistant Professor - Music Education
Aubrey Foard
Lecturer - Tuba Performance
Varty Manouelian
Lecturer - Violin Performance, Violin LA Philharmonic
John Steinmetz
Lecturer - Bassoon Performance
Jan Berry Baker
Professor - Saxophone, Head of Woodwinds, Vice Chair of the Department of Music, Special Assistant to the Dean for Faculty Mentoring
Amy Sanchez
Lecturer - Horn Performance
Kay Rhie
Assistant Professor - Composition
Hitomi Oba
Lecturer and Director of Contemporary Jazz Ensemble
Benjamin Smolen
Lecturer - Flute Performance
Lindsey Beardsley
Manager - Department of Music Performance, Education and Composition

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