ART BATH
Art Bath transforms the salon experience into a festival-in-an-evening that takes audiences on an immersive ride through many disciplines and textures of art. With an established history of fostering new collaborations and work by world-class creatives, Art Bath draws from an eclectic lineup of opera, music, dance, puppetry, and fine artists to create unique evenings in a reimagined warehouse.
Art Bath + PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL will feature star soprano Leah Hawkins in an intimate performance, master puppeteer and designer Julian Crouch with Saskia Lane in their work Birdheart, choreographer Annie Rigney with thereminist Rob Schwimmer in she was becoming untethered.., sculptor and performance artist Elissavet (Betty) Sfyri in a new work, and a first-time collaboration between contemporary Gnawa collective Saha Gnawa and roller-skating artist Manuela Agudelo Roberts.
Art Bath would like to thank Michael Dupler for his generous support of this program.
Photo Credit: Santiago Felipe
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Leah Hawkins (Soprano)
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 Crouch (Director, Designer, Maker)
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 Rigney (Choreographer)
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 (Contemporary Gnawa group)
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.
Mara Driscoll & Liz Yilmaz (Creative Producers)
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.