Nathan Felix

Last updated
Nathan Felix
Birth nameNathan Felix
Born (1981-05-25) May 25, 1981 (age 43)
Origin Austin
GenresClassical Music
OccupationComposer
Instrument(s)Piano, Guitar
Years active2008–present
Website electrochestral.com

Nathan Felix (born 1981) is a classical music composer from Austin, Texas. [1] He now resides in San Antonio. [2] He is also the band leader for The Noise Revival Orchestra.

Contents

Career

Felix's symphonies have been performed in Bulgaria, Portugal, Denmark, Mongolia and the United States with a performance of his 2nd Symphony, Neon Heaven, at SPOT Festival. [3]

In 2013, his 1st Symphony, The Curse the Cross & the Lion, was featured by the BBC and later made into a documentary entitled The Curse & The Symphony. The documentary has screened at 28 film festivals, and was picked up by Gaiam TV. In 2015, PBS affiliate KLRU featured Felix's 6-Piano Project on an episode of Arts in Context, in which he restored abandoned pianos to premiere his works written for six pianos and then donated the pianos to lower-income schools in Austin. [4] 6-Pianos was nominated for a Lone Star Emmy in 2016. The 6-Piano Project has since been presented in San Antonio (2016), Barcelona (2017), Melbourne (2017) and Houston (2019).

In 2018, Felix premiered his Headphone Opera entitled The War Bride at Luminaria Festival in San Antonio with two concerts. [5] Based on the memoir of Felix's grandmother, Jean Groundsell-Contreras, The War Bride examines the subject of immigration in the 1940s during World War II and in the present time. Felix also expanded on his music for six pianos with music for a musitronic six-sided keyboard and choir entitled Yachting with the Kennedys. [6]

In 2020, Felix released Öcalan, [7] a chamber opera inspired by Kurdish Political Activist, Abdullah Öcalan.

In 2021, Felix premiered his chamber opera, Ribas-Dominicci, on Texas Public Radio. Ribas-Dominicci, is inspired by the life of Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci, a pilot in the U.S. Air Force who was killed during Operation El Dorado Canyon in 1986. In November, Texas Skies, featuring music for two pianos was released with Timo Andres as pianist.

In 2022, Felix premiered two new Latinx operas for hispanic heritage month, La Malinche - Traitor Savior, at Albuquerque Museum of Art and History and No. 5, an opera about the loves of fashion designer Coco Chanel in Orlando.

Felix and Anita Gonzalez received an IDEA opera grant from Opera America in 2024 for Faces in the Flames. [8]

The Drake University piano program commissioned Felix to compose a new classical composition for sixteen pianos. 16-Pianos in Surround Sound premiered in the Anderson Gallery at Drake University for two nights in March 2024. [9]

Felix serves as music director for the San Antonio choir From Those Who Follow the Echoes, which premiered Felix’s Opera on a Bus. [10]

Personal life

He is of Mexican-American descent. [11]

Selected works

Opera

Discography

Albums


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References

  1. ↑ Nathan Felix Biography, Electrochestral.com, retrieved 2017-01-03
  2. ↑ "San Antonio composer turns opera into 'silent rave' with immersive new work". CultureMap San Antonio. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  3. ↑ Voldborg Andersen, Christian. "Neon Heaven Spot Festival, Musikhuset Aarhus, Symfonisk Sal, fredag d. 1. maj 2015". Gaffa. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ Hernandez, Chelsea (16 February 2016). "How a composer turned 6 abandoned pianos into a unique concert". PBS. KLRU. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  5. ↑ Cone, Nathan (7 November 2018). "Composer Nathan Felix Brings 'Headphone Opera' To Luminaria". Texas Public Radio. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  6. ↑ Courtney, James. "San Antonio Museum of Art, Composer Nathan Felix Team Up for Special Scavenger Hunt Through Music". San Antonio Current. Retrieved October 4, 2018.
  7. ↑ Cone, Nathan (13 October 2020). "San Antonio Composer Releases New Opera On Kurdish Independence Struggle". Texas Public Radio. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  8. ↑ "OPERA America Awards Fifth Annual IDEA Opera Grants to Three Projects by Nathan Felix and Anita Gonzalez, Danielle Olana Jagelski and Rhiana Yazzie, and Jorge Sosa". Opera America. July 24, 2024.
  9. ↑ Morain, Michael (20 March 2024). "Music for 16 pianos premieres tonight at Drake". DSM Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  10. ↑ Courtney, James. "DIY Composer Nathan Felix Presents an Opera on the Bus this Weekend". San Antonio Current. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Team". www.buildingtheamericandream.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.


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