Natasha Layne Brien photo

Gretchen Farrar is a versatile singer with diverse repertoire in both concert and opera.  The Münchner Merkur described her 2009 performance of American songs with Elysium-Between Two Continents in Germany as “technically more than brilliant... an overall elegant tightrope-walk between charming entertainment and profound quality...” The New York Times noted her “passionate and shapely performance” of Ernesto Cordero’s songs with guitarist Francisco Roldán at the 2008 Mannes Guitar Festival. 

Gretchen recently completed her debut cd, Interweaving, with guitarist Francisco Roldán.  The recording is a collection of songs in Spanish and English from the Renaissance to today with composers including Dowland, Sor, Lorca, and Cordero, among others.  The cd is currently available at concerts and cdbaby.  You can also hear Gretchen on OperaMusicBroadcast.com - the future of classical radio.

A committed recitalist, Gretchen debuted at Weill Hall in Elysium—Between Two Continents’ The Cry For Life—Passionate Exiled Voices, where she sang works by Aron, Foss, Hindemith, and Hirschberg.  She performed songs by Alexander, Dessau and Lustgarten in Fundstücke - from the Lahr/von Leïtis Archive in Germany and New York.  Gretchen has been assistant director to Gregorij von Leïtis for a number of productions including Piscator’s Metropolis – Berlin, The Pursuit of Happiness, and Elysium’s International Summer Academy for young singers.  She has also worked under the stage direction of Michael Lahr and the music direction of Dan Franklin Smith.

In the contemporary realm, Gretchen has performed chamber music with New Music New York.  She has offered songs by Copland, Hundley and Swenson with pianist LeAnn Overton at Merkin Hall.  Gretchen has commissioned works by composers Rebecca Oswald and Lily Barmor Rose.

On the opera stage, Gretchen most recently sang Soeur Constance in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmelites with Hudson Opera Theatre.  Other credits include Anchorage Opera, Eugene Opera, Belleayre Festival Opera, Opera at Florham, Dicapo Opera, and National Lyric Opera.  Some of her roles have included Micaela, Serpina, Susanna, and Despina. 

The recipient of study grants from the German Academic Exchange Service and the Italian Cultural Institute, Gretchen has been a teaching artist for the Metropolitan Opera Guild.  Gretchen received her Master’s in Music from the University of Oregon, where she was also a graduate teaching fellow. She earned her Bachelor’s at Bates College.  In 2010, Gretchen participated in NYFA’s Artists as Entrepreneurs Boot Camp.

email