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Jim Farber

Jim Farber wrote his first classical music review in 1982 for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. Since then, he has been a feature writer and critic of classical music, opera, theater, and fine art for The Daily Variety, the Copley Newspapers and News Service, and the Los Angeles Newspaper Group (Media News).

Articles by this Author

Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
October 17, 2017
“Roll Sound: Action!”: The LA Phil Goes to the Movies
BY Jim Farber

In the second installment of the Ciudad de la Mexico Festival, Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Phil celebrate a “Noche de Cine.”

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Chamber Orchestra/Orchestra Review
October 17, 2017
Viva Mexico! Viva LA Phil!
BY Jim Farber

Gustavo Dudamel’s CDMX: Music from Mexico City enchants with big ideas and small details.

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Feature Article
Breaking Through the Celluloid Ceiling
September 16, 2017
Breaking Through the Celluloid Ceiling
BY Jim Farber

Women film composers are banding together to have their voices and their music heard.

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Feature Article
Inside the Making of <em>Dunkirk</em>’s Landmark Soundtrack
August 21, 2017
Inside the Making of Dunkirk’s Landmark Soundtrack
BY Jim Farber

The lauded film derives much of its power from an intricate tapestry of music, sound, and effects.

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Chamber Music Review
April 18, 2017
Breaking the Ice in L.A. with the Reykjavik Festival
BY Jim Farber

The Los Angeles Philharmonic explores the phenomenon that is contemporary Icelandic music.

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Opera Review
March 14, 2017
The Mouse that Roared: Philip Glass Takes on Walt Disney
BY Jim Farber

Long Beach Opera’s The Perfect American examines the life of the visionary animator.

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Feature Article
The New Music Paradox, Part 2: Lessons From the Front Lines
February 28, 2017
The New Music Paradox, Part 2: Lessons From the Front Lines
BY Jim Farber

New music may be suddenly hip but keeping an arts nonprofit afloat is still challenging.

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Feature Article
The New Music Paradox Challenges Patrons and Organizations Alike
February 16, 2017
The New Music Paradox Challenges Patrons and Organizations Alike
BY Jim Farber

Where will the expanding universe of emerging artists and presenters find the support they need?

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Opera Review
November 8, 2016
Glass’ Akhnaten Triumphs in New L.A. Opera Production
BY Jim Farber

Phelim McDermott, the wizard behind the 2007 English National Opera production of Satyagraha, comes through again with a spectacular staging of a brilliant but difficult show.

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Opera Review
November 1, 2016
L.A. Opera Goes for the Throat with Nosferatu
BY Jim Farber

Artist in residence Matthew Aucoin created and conducted a new pastiche score for F.W. Murnau’s classic film that was surprisingly moving.

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Opera Review
October 21, 2016
Ted Hearne’s The Source Teases Much, Reveals Little
BY Jim Farber

It’s hard to come to grips with the new opera presented by L.A. Opera, which may be part of the point.

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Modern Classical Review
October 4, 2016
L.A. Phil’s “Green Umbrella” Rocks Around the Clock
BY Jim Farber

A 12-hour event, “Noon to Midnight,” showcases the city’s new music scene.

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Artist Spotlight
Harmonic Convergence: Yuval Sharon, The Industry, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Join Forces.
September 22, 2016
Harmonic Convergence: Yuval Sharon, The Industry, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Join Forces.
BY Jim Farber

The director who has been reimagining opera for new audiences, trains his sights on the concert hall in a collaboration with the L.A. Philharmonic

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A Documentary About the Mobile Opera <em>Hopscotch</em> Is Coming on Public Television
July 12, 2016
A Documentary About the Mobile Opera Hopscotch Is Coming on Public Television
BY Jim Farber
The new film provides an inside look at the logic and logistics of the innovative “Opera for the 21st Century.”
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Feature Article
The Year of the Woman at the Ojai Festival
May 23, 2016
The Year of the Woman at the Ojai Festival
BY Jim Farber

Kaija Saariaho headlines at Ojai and Ojai North this year, sharing time with Tania Leon, Dina El Wedidi, Airuna Sairam, soprano Julia Bullock, and musicologist Susan McClary.

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Opera Review
March 15, 2016
Fallujah the Opera Viscerally Exposes the Casualties of War
BY Jim Farber

A bold, new opera tells of PTSD and the American and Iraqi casualties of a war we’d like to forget, but can’t.

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Feature Article
Long Beach Opera Returns to the Battlefield
March 1, 2016
Long Beach Opera Returns to the Battlefield
BY Jim Farber

An opera premiere about a Marine returning from Iraq is grounded in the experiences of a veteran of the recent war.

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Opera Review
November 9, 2015
Rethinking Opera With Hopscotch
BY Jim Farber

The Industry once again creates an entirely novel, unrepeatable, music-theater experience.

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Upcoming Concert
Car Hop: The Industry’s Mobile Opera <em>Hopscotch</em> Takes to the Streets
October 27, 2015
The Industry
Car Hop: The Industry’s Mobile Opera Hopscotch Takes to the Streets
BY Jim Farber

The city of Los Angeles costars in a new opera from the company that created Invisible Cities.

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Feature Article
The Art of Healing with Sound
September 9, 2015
The Art of Healing with Sound
BY Jim Farber

The ancient art is attracting a new generation of classical musicians.

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