ART BATH

Soprano Leah Hawkins is the recipient of the Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award and a graduate of their Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Additional honors include the Marian Anderson Award, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Career Advancement Award, and a Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant. 

Highlights of the 24/25 season include her San Francisco Symphony debut in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Esa Pekka-Salonen, and a return to Arizona Opera for her highly anticipated titular role debut in Aida. On the concert stage she returns to The Philadelphia Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, joins The Apollo Orchestra as a guest soloist in a concert of Verdi Arias, and returns to the Park Avenue Armory for a self-curated recital entitled C’est ainsi que tu es or That is how you are, which is “a glimpse into my ongoing journey of finding, accepting, and living as my truest self.” Future engagements include debuts with La Monnaie / De Munt and The Dallas Opera, along with returns to the Metropolitan Opera and The Philadelphia Orchestra. 

Last season, Hawkins returned to the Metropolitan Opera as the Soprano Soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, and performed Musetta in La bohème with The Philadelphia Orchestra, both conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Other season engagements included a role debut in Anthony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Louise/Betty) with the Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera. In the spring, she made her role and house debut at Dutch National Opera in a new production of Il tabarro (Giorgetta) directed by Barrie Kosky. On the concert stage she performed the Dvořák Requiem with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Julian is a Brooklyn-based independent director, designer, writer, maker, teacher, illustrator and musician, whose career has spanned theatre, opera, ballet, film and television. Initially a mask and puppet maker, and with much of his life based in London, in the mid- 1990’s co-founded London’s Improbable Theatre Company. Julian co-created, co-directed and designed the multi-award winning Shockheaded Peter. His work for the Metropolitan Opera has included set design and associate direction for Satyagraha, and designs for The Enchanted Island, Doctor Atomic, The Merry Widow, Marnie and their 125th Gala.  Other major projects include Jerry Springer: The Opera and A Funny Thing Happened on The Way To The Forum for the National Theatre, The Magic Flute for the Welsh National Opera and Cinderella for the Dutch National and San Francisco Ballets. On Broadway Julian designed The Addams Family Musical, Big Fish, Head Over Heels and Hedwig And the Angry Inch (Tony Nomination). Julian co-directed, co-composed and designed Jedermann for the Salzburg Festival, and he designed and co-created The Aging Magician for BMP at the New Victory Theater.  His production Birdheart, co conceived with Saskia Lane, played for the Dalai Lama in Brussels and has toured as far afield as Zimbabwe and Abu Dhabi. Julian was recently Artist in Residence at New York’s Park Avenue Armory and was the first commissioned artist for the BRIC House Fireworks Residency Program in Brooklyn, NY. He has illustrated 2 books – Jedermann, and Maggot Moon.

Annie is a New York based dancer, choreographer, Gaga teacher and Ilan Lev Method therapist. Her choreographic interest and movement research lies in the intersection between extreme physicality and healing; In the conflict between the need for art to challenge and destroy and the simultaneous healing and uniting power of movement. Annie is an Alumnus of the Conservatory of Dance at SUNY Purchase. She danced with the Batsheva Ensemble under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin, toured internationally with Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company and was a cast member of Punchdrunk’s immersive theater production, Sleep No More, from 2015-2019. In April, 2023 Annie premiered a new choreographic work, Get Up, My Daughter, commissioned by and created for the Martha Graham Dance Company and presented at the Joyce Theater. Her choreographic work, Galithea, was featured as a part of the 92nd Street Y’s Future Dance Festival and performed at the Joyce Theater. Annie was a guest choreographer for the Fall Concert at SUNY Purchase 2021, a recipient of the Moving Women Residency from Gallim Dance, a 2023 CUNY Grant recipient, and a choreographic fellow for Robert Battle’s New Directions Choreographic Fellowship program at the Alvin Ailey School. Annie is a current Artist in Residence at the 92nd Street Y and premiered her evening-length work entitled, …she was becoming untethered. at the newly renovated Buttenweiser Hall. She is an adjunct professor at the Alvin Ailey School and the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance and teaches Gaga at Gibney Dance Center, and Mark Morris Dancer, among others.  She has been an Ilan Lev Method practitioner for 12 years and runs a private practice treating dancers and musicians for injuries and functional limitations.

Saha Gnawa is a unique and organic joining of Moroccan Gnawa Trance music and NYs finest groove players and improvisers featuring Maalem Hassan Ben Jaafer, a true Maalem (master of Gnawa music and culture). He is the son of the esteemed Maalem Abdullah Benjaafar of Fes, Morocco. As a youth he traveled throughout Morocco, living, studying and performing with Maalems in every region. As a Maalem he conducted all night trance healing ceremonies called lilas. He is the leader of the NY based, Grammy nominated band Innov Gnawa.

Joining the Maalem are keyboardist Jason Lindner (David Bowie, Meshell Ndegeocello), drummer and instigator Daniel Freedman (David Byrne, Angeliqué Kidjo), guitarist Guilherme Monteiro (Gal Costa, Bebel Gilberto), guitar hero Gilad Hekselman as well as Gnawa Koyos (singers and qraqeb players) Amino Belyamani and David Lizmi. Saha Gnawa’s upcoming recording features guests Donny McCaslin (David Bowie) and master percussionists Roman Diaz and Gustavo Di Dalva.

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen brings his “astonishingly beautiful” (The Guardian)
instrument to a broad range of repertoire spanning the Baroque to the
contemporary. Acclaimed as both a “young star” and “complete artist” by the New
York Times, the "extravagantly gifted” countertenor is “poised to redefine what’s
possible for singers of this distinctive voice type” (San Francisco Chronicle).
Mr. Nussbaum Cohen finds a close affinity between the ancient musical traditions of
his Jewish heritage and the Baroque works composing much of his operatic
repertoire. Equally invigorated performing new works, Nussbaum Cohen performed
on the GRAMMY® Award-winning recording of Kenneth Fuchs' Poems of Life
with the London Symphony Orchestra under JoAnn Falletta; and his interpretation
of the Refugee’s aria from Jonathan Dove’s Flight provided the centerpiece for his
competition successes, including winning the Grand Prize at the 2017 Metropolitan
Opera Laffont Competition, top prizes in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum
and the Dallas Opera Guild Competitions, a George and Nora London Foundation
Award, the Richard Tucker Study Grant and Career Grant, and the 2024 Gerda
Lissner Foundation’s International Vocal Competition.
In the 2024-25 season, Nussbaum Cohen creates Ismael in the world premiere of
Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s Fanny and
Alexander at La Monnaie de Munt in Brussels. He also returns to Deutsche Oper
Berlin for Sir George Benjamin’s Written on Skin. Highlights of his concert schedule
include his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and his French debut
performing Vivaldi at the Festival de Froville. He performs in recital at Carnegie
Hall, the Kennedy Center, and in Houston and Minneapolis/St. Paul.
In recent seasons, he has performed with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus
Zürich, Adelaide Festival, Komische Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne, the San Francisco
Opera, Ballet, and Symphony; Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Houston Grand
Opera, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Music of the Baroque,
Philharmonia Baroque, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in history from Princeton, Nussbaum Cohen
graduated from San Francisco Opera’s Merola and Adler Fellowship Programs and
the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

Elissavet Sfyri is a Greek artist born in Athens in 1994, who is based between
Athens and New York. She completed her MA in Sculpture at the prestigious
Royal College of Art in 2019, after graduating from the Fine Art program at
Goldsmiths University in London. Sfyri's work has been showcased in
numerous international group exhibitions, including the Centre d’Art
Contemporain – MAMCO in Geneva, the National Museum of Fine Arts in
Taipei, the Kommagene Biennial Adiyaman in Turkey and CICA Museum in
South Korea. Her talent has also been recognized with the ARTWORKS
Fellows prize in 2020 by the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Foundation.
Furthermore, Sfyri has also made a name for herself in the film industry. Her
film, ZABETA, which she co-created with Sofia Sfyri, was awarded the
International film under 50min Fischer 1st prize at the 23rd Thessaloniki
Documentary Festival in 2021. It was also screened at the Athens
International Film Festival and was nominated for the IRIS Hellenic Film
Awards. Sfyri has shared her expertise with others by giving lectures at the
University of West Attica for the MSc in Interior Architecture: Sustainable and
Social Design. Her presentation, titled “Social experiments with Aesthetics
and sound”, provided valuable insights into her creative process. In addition to
that she recently started a collaboration with Wael H. Habbal (Obama Scholar
at Columbia University), Dr. Beth Fisher-Yoshida (Columbia University –
Program Director of Conflict Resolution and Negotiation) and Joan Camilo
Lopez (Youth, Peace, and Security Program Manager, Columbia University –
Adjunct professor of Anthropology City College, CUNY) for a series of
conversations between youth leaders/activists in Athens. These conversations
are addressing some of the most pressing social problems of the communities
to exchange knowledge, tools, methods, and overall experiences. Elissavet
has also participated in various workshops, including the ULYSSES Seawards
Workshop by Onassis, in collaboration with The Syrian and Greek Youth
Forum and European Odyssey. She has also organized, curated, produced,
and taken part as an artist at Saline Art Residency, with permanent public
sculptures in Ermioni and Porto Heli, Greece. Her work has helped to support
artists, who after her residency, have gone on to receive recognition from
numerous international foundations, including the Somerset House, the
Cannes Film Festival, New Museum (New York), Lenbachhaus, Chisenhale
Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Breeder Gallery, the BFI, the International Film
Festival Rotterdam, Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Athens International Film

Festival, Benaki Museum, NEON Greece, Stegi – the Onassis Foundation,
DESTE Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stavros Niarchos Cultural
Foundation, and more.

Mara Driscoll is a creative producer, arts administrator, choreographer, and professional dancer. In 2022, she co-founded the immersive salon series Art Bath and has since collaborated with and presented major names in music, dance, opera, and visual art. She is the Program and Advancement Senior Lead at the International Society for the Performing Arts, a network of 500 leading arts professionals from 60 countries. In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, she created and produced Boulder Arts Outdoors, a multi-disciplinary performance festival in Boulder, Colorado.  Mara performed with numerous NYC-based ensembles before beginning to work with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, where she has danced for seven consecutive seasons. Her choreography has been presented at The Phillips Collection in Washington DC, New York Theatre Workshop, New Chamber Ballet, and the Center at West Park. She graduated from the Gallatin School for Individualized Study at N.Y.U.

Liz Yilmaz is a professional dancer, teacher, and producer based in New York City. Liz is the Co-Founder and Producer of Art Bat, a salon series that is entering its third year. She received her B.A in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College where she now serves on the Dance Advisory Board. She is a former company member with Ballet Hispanico of New York. This is Liz’s thirteenth season dancing with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet. She co-produced the first independent performance series of Dancers of the Met in 2021. Liz is also on ballet faculty teaching at the 92NY and trainee program at the Joffrey Ballet School. She will be attending Harvard Business School in the fall of 2024 for the “Crossover to Business” program for professional athletes and dancers.