Kuda, kuda, vi udalilis - Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Salut! Demeure chaste et pure - Gounod's Faust
Omar
Najmi
Tenor / Composer
Omar Najmi, a versatile Boston-based artist, excels as an operatic and concert tenor and composer. His 2024 season features diverse engagements, including debuts with Boston Baroque in Handel's Messiah, Los Angeles Opera as Simon in Adoration (a role he premiered with Beth Morrison Projects in NYC), and Washington National Opera, where his new opera, Mud Girl, was presented as part of the American Opera Initiative.
Recent highlights include appearances on Danaë Xanthe Vlasse's album Mythologies, as soloist in BWV 94 at BachFest Leipzig, and Messiah with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Najmi also joins Anchorage Opera for Mozart's Impresario and debuts with Minnesota Opera as Darius in Kamala Sankaram's The Graphic Death of Leila Stark workshop.
Upcoming engagements include Enoch Snow in Carousel with Boston Lyric Opera and Austin Opera, and a role and company debut as Peter Quint/Prologue in The Turn of the Screw at the prestigious 2025 Spoleto Festival.
Najmi has already had an impressive performing career, with recent credits including Valcour in The Anonymous Lover with Boston Lyric Opera, Ruggero in La Rondine with Opera on the James, Lord Byron in the world-premiere of The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage with Guerilla Opera, Alessandro in Il Re Pastore with Orpheus PDX, Rodolfo in La Boheme with Opera Steamboat, Astolfo in Furiosus with Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo, Shakur in Thumbprint with Portland Opera, Tybalt in Romeo et Juliette with Boston Lyric Opera, and Spearmint Lodge in the world-premiere of The Artwork of the Future with Fresh-Squeezed Opera.
In addition to his operatic performances, Najmi has appeared in concert as the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Dvorak's Stabat Mater and Mendelssohn's Lobgesang with Greenwich Choral Society, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Coro Allegro, Haydn's Mariazellermesse with Masterworks Chorale, and Bach's St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, and Christmas Oratorio with Emmanuel Music. Najmi made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2018 as the tenor soloist in Mark Hayes' Gloria and has since returned as the soloist in Dan Forrest's Requiem for the Living and as a soloist in Talents of the World Inc.'s Caruso Tribute Concert.
Najmi enjoys a long-standing relationship with Boston Lyric Opera, where he began his professional career as an Emerging Artist (2013-2015) performing in 15 productions. Other operatic engagements include Opera Colorado, Chautauqua Opera, Annapolis Opera, Opera Saratoga, Opera Maine, Opera Fayetteville, Opera NEO, Opera North, Odyssey Opera, American Lyric Theater, and more. He has performed several times as a soloist with the touring concert Video Games Live, including an appearance with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.
As a composer, Najmi is making a name for himself, having premiered his first opera, En la ardiente oscuridad, in 2019. After a run of sold-out performances, he was invited to serve as the first-ever Emerging Composer in residence with Boston Lyric Opera, where he worked with Boston Youth Poet Laureate Alondra Bobadilla in the creation of the song cycle my name is Alondra. The piece received its live premiere on BLO's Street Stage in 2021. In 2022, his motet The Last Invocation was premiered by Emmanuel Music. His second opera, This Is Not That Dawn, was premiered in concert by Catalyst New Music in 2022, and his song cycle More Than Our Own Caves received its premiere with Juventas New Music Ensemble in 2023. Najmi was a 2023 finalist in Atlanta Opera's 96-Hour Opera Project, and his most recent opera, Jo Dooba So Paar, was presented by White Snake Projects as part of their "Let's Celebrate" initiative.
Throughout his career, Najmi has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Harold Norblom Award from Opera Colorado, the Stephen Shrestinian Award from Boston Lyric Opera, 2nd prize from the Wilkinson Young Singers Fund, the Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellowship from Emmanuel Music, 2nd place nationally in the Handel Aria Competition, and he has been a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.