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Lara Downes and Daniel Felsenfeld

Lara Downes is a concert pianist, writer, and radio producer. As a pianist, Lara is heard regularly on national radio programs including NPR Music, Performance Today, Sirius XM Symphony Hall, and Impromptu. She is the producer and host of The Green Room, a radio program about the lives of classical musicians, distributed nationally by WFMT Chicago. Visit www.laradownes.com for more. Composer Daniel Felsenfeld has been commissioned by and performed with organizations and artists including the New York Philharmonic, Opera On Tap, NANOWorks Opera, San Jose Opera, New York City Opera (VOX), and the New England Conservatory Philharmonic. When rapper Jay-Z performed in Carnegie Hall with Alicia Keys and Nas, backed by a full orchestra, Felsenfeld was asked to do all of the orchestrations and arrangements. He’s also collaborated with The Roots and ?uestlove with Keren Ann and David Murray. He is also the Court Composer for John Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders, for which he wrote the theme—and which can be heard as an NPR Podcast.
  • Daniel Felsenfeld | Rumpus Music
    Lara Downes and Daniel Felsenfeld

    A Year In The Life: Premiere Perseveration

    I once, years ago, sat next to a colleague at a premiere, and as the lights dimmed I whispered, “Why do I do this to myself?” And yet, I persist.

  • Lara Downes and Daniel Felsenfeld

    A Year in the Life: Deadlines,  A Love Story

    Deadlines make me crazy. They cause me anxiety, sleepless nights, and self-hatred, but they also make me work very hard, and to manage to always, somehow, so far, pull it off.

  • Mad Love | Rumpus Music
    Lara Downes and Daniel Felsenfeld

    A Year In The Life: An Introduction

    Musician and writer Lara Downes and composer Daniel Felsenfeld embark on a year-long collaborative project, A Year in the Life, and chronicle their journey.