J. Oconer Navarro is a composer, lyricist, bookwriter, pianist, musical director, arranger, and vocal coach based in NYC. He holds an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU-Tisch (2006), where he was Tisch School of the Arts Scholar; and a BS in Human and Organizational Development w/ a conc. in Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness & Music w/ a conc. in Piano Performance from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN (2004), where he graduated cum laude. He was musical director for the acclaimed Adding Machine Off-Broadway, which garnered numerous Lortel, Obie, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and was preserved on recording with PS Classics. He also served as musical director/vocal arranger for Theatreworks USA’s If You Give a Pig a Pancake (and Other Story Books), which is currently touring the country at a theatre near you! His regional work as a musical director includes: Deborah Abramson’s Travels With My Discontent (Barrington Stage Company), The Burnt Part Boys (TheatreWorks in Palo Alto), Everybody Loves A Winner: A Tribute to John Kander (Westport Country Playhouse) under Mary-Mitchell Campbell, My Scary Girl (Barrington Stage Company), A Year With Frog and Toad (Two River Theatre Company) alongside director Jackson Gay; this summer, he is conducting Once On This Island at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, running June 18 through July 4; and will make his Kennedy Center debut this fall with Bill Sherman and Quiara AlegrÌa Hudes’ Barrio Grrl!, alongside director of Peter Flynn. His favorite Broadway/NYC music department credits include The Apple Tree, Avenue Q, Curtains, Mary Poppins, Rooms, a Rock Romance, The Apple, and Other Slip-ups, Ricky Ian Gordon’s Art/Song/Dance (Joyce), Henry Krieger and Susan Birkenhead’s The Flamingo Kid (Workshop), Lines (NYMF 2008), Look What a Wonder Jesus Has Done (NYMF 2007), and countless developmental readings, workshops, and concerts of new work. J. is a proud member of ASCAP, Local 802 AFM, and The Dramatists Guild of America. He has served on the faculty of Applause Theatrical Workshops, the Marymount School of New York, and has been a guest lecturer at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, CAP21, and Pace University. J. can also bee seen playing auditions for several casting agencies. Works include Awakening with Joel B New, Birth Day, Onward with Katie Kring, So Deep (It’s Underground) with Sean Keogh, and the dance piece If All the Raindrops Were Lemondrops and Gumdrops, Oh What a World it Would Be! for piano, cello, and oboe. He is currently penning an adaptation of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child with Mr. Hwang and director/choreographer Jessica Redish. J. was born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. Thanks to family, teachers, and friends worldwide for the continued and loving support. Oh, and the J. stands for Joses (JOE-zis), in case you were wondering.