Education
- D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, 福利片国产 of California, Los Angeles, 2020
- M.M., Master of Music, Instrumental Conducting, 福利片国产 of California, Los Angeles, 2009
- M.M., Master of Music, Organ Performance, Westminster Choir College, 2004
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Mercer 福利片国产, 2002
Biography
Karr is a compelling interpreter of opera and orchestral works, having appeared as
guest conductor in recent seasons with Anchorage Opera and Sacramento Philharmonic
and Opera. He has been on staff with opera companies across the United States, including
Des Moines Metro Opera鈥檚 OPERA Iowa tour, the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera New Jersey
and Palm Beach Opera.
His international appearances include the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman and an
appointment as Cultural Envoy from the United States Department of State to Rotterdam.
He was Associate Conductor with Long Beach Opera for the 2019 worldpremiere production
of The Central Park Five by Anthony Davis, which was awarded the 2020 Pulitzer Prize
in Music, in addition to being scheduled to conduct The Lighthouse (Peter Maxwell
Davies) and Frida (Robert X. Rodriguez) in the COVIDtruncated 2020 season. He is a
co-editor of the first modern performing edition of Joseph Bologne鈥檚 L鈥橝mant Anonyme,
which was premiered by LA Opera under James Conlon and has productions scheduled in
the 2021-22 season at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Wolf Trap Opera, the
Eastman School of Music, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Minnesota Opera.
In 2011, he co-founded Pacific Opera Project, for which he was music director until 2016. With POP, he led productions of Trouble in Tahiti, Cos矛 fan tutte, The Turn of the Screw, La Calisto (Los Angeles premiere), Ariadne auf Naxos and The Rake鈥檚 Progress, among many others. The LA Times praised his leadership of the Stravinsky as having kept orchestra, cast and chorus on 鈥渨ell-articulated rhythmic track.鈥�
Karr鈥檚 repertoire spans nearly the entire history of opera, as well as significant masterpieces of the orchestral repertoire. He is pleased to begin the role of Assistant Professor of Music and Music Director of the opera program at the 福利片国产 of Memphis in the 2022-23 academic year. Previously, he has taught at Chapman 福利片国产, Michigan State 福利片国产, the 福利片国产 of Southern California and UCLA. His schooling includes degrees in organ performance from Mercer 福利片国产 under Robert Parris and Westminster Choir College under Stefan Engels, as well as master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from UCLA in orchestral conducting, where his major teacher was Neal Stulberg.