Adam O’Farrill

Adam O'Farrill (born September 8, 1994) is an American trumpeter, arranger, composer, and jazz musician based in Brooklyn, New York. He has performed and/or recorded with several influential jazz artists including Rudresh Mahanthappa, Mary Halvorson, Arturo O'Farrill, Mulatu Astatke, Brasstracks, Stephan Crump, Onyx Collective, Anna Webber, and Samora Pinderhughes.

Adam O'Farrill was born on September 8, 1994, in Brooklyn, New York City, to Grammy award-winning pianist Arturo O'Farrill and his wife Alison Deane. He is also the grandson of noted Cuban musician Chico O'Farrill. His brother Zack O'Farrill is a jazz drummer. 

O'Farrill is of Mexican, Cuban, and Irish heritage on his father's side, and Eastern European Jewish and African-American on his mother's side. 

Growing up in a musical family, he started playing piano at age six and trumpeter at eight. 

After graduating from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in New York City, he obtained his Bachelor of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. He has studied trumpet with Jim Seeley, Nathan Warner, Ambrose Akinmusire, Laurie Frink, and Thomas Smith, and composition with Reiko Fueting and Curtis Macdonald. 

O'Farrill has been working in the New York jazz scene since 2000. He initially gained acclaim playing alongside his brother drummer Zack O'Farrill in their father Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. 

In 2009, O'Farrill participated in the Jazz in the White House program as part of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. The following year, he was chosen as a member of the Grammy Jazz Ensemble. During that time, he and his brother Zack O'Farrill issued several albums including 2009's Giant Peach and 2013's Sensing Flight.

O'Farrill made his professional recording debut on Chad Lefkowitz-Brown's debut album, Imagery Manifesto, in 2013. That same year, he was awarded the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. 

After finishing third in the 2014 Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition, O'Farrill established himself as a leader and sideman playing with saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, as well as with his own quartet.

O'Farrill appeared on Mahanthappa's album Bird Calls (2015) and also played on his father's Grammy-nominated 2015 album Cuba: The Conversation Continues.

In 2016, O'Farrill released on Sunnyside Communications Stranger Days—his solo debut album as a composer and bandleader featuring bassist Walter Stinson, drummer Zack O'Farrill, and saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown. The album was co-produced by his father, Arturo. In 2018, he released on Biophilia Records El Maquech, which covered everything from Mexican folk music to Irving Berlin, as well as O'Farrill's original compositions.

Besides performing in his father's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, O'Farrill has collaborated with several notable jazz greats including Stefon Harris, Olli Hirvonen, Benny Golson, DJ Logic, Kenny Burrell, James Moody, Brasstracks, and Samora Pinderhughes.

In 2020, O'Farrill played on Webber/Morris Big Band's debut album Both Are True alongside Angela Morris (tenor Saxophone, flute), Anna Webber (conductor, tenor saxophone, flute), Jay Rattman (alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute), Charlotte Greve (alto saxophone, clarinet), Adam Schneit (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Lisa Parrott (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet), Marc Hannaford (piano), Adam Hopkins (bass), Jeff Davis (drums), and others.

Also in 2020, he played on Mary Halvorson's Code Girl's Artlessly Falling featuring Mary Halvorson (guitar, producer, written-by), Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), Maria Grand (tenor saxophone, voice), and Amirtha Kidambi (voice), among others.

• ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award (2013)
• Third in Thelonious Monk Institute Jazz Trumpet Competition (2014)
• Rising Star Trumpet, Downbeat Critics Poll (2019)
• Received composition commissions from The Jazz Gallery, YoungArts.