Biography
Hannah Cai Sobel (they/them) is a NYC based composer, conductor, vocalist, and ice cream enthusiast. Inspired by the human experience, Hannah's music tells stories about being a person in a world full of other people. They draw on the modes and textures of early chant and polyphony in their own writing, forcing age-old techniques to “crash headfirst” into contemporary practices and harmonies. They are an alum of Wildflower Composer's Festival, Composers in the Wilderness, Eastern Chamber Music’s Art Song Lab, and SourceSong Festival. Their work has been performed all over the United States by groups such as the Swarthmore College Garnet Singers, the College of St. Mary’s Women’s Choir, Manhattan Choral Ensemble, Corvus, Quartet Iris, Relâche Ensemble, and the Octava Chamber Orchestra. Hannah is the 2023 winner of Manhattan Choral Ensemble’s Composition Competition as well as their Audience Choice Award. They were also a finalist for the 2023 Bowdoin Marion-Brown Prize.
Hannah has music directed and conducted every opera they’ve written. Their goal is to make opera accessible for everyone - in both their operas, Frog and Toad and Brooklyn Bound L, they provided debut opportunities for emerging singers. Both operas were presented in ways that were accessible to first time opera goers and they are very proud that a large percentage of their audience members were first time (and not last time!) opera goers. They are the co-president of their opera company, Granite Planet, which aims to promote unconventional operas in unconventional venues. They are also the assistant conductor for Transcend, NYC’s trans and gender nonconforming choir, the conductor of the Brooklyn chapter of HaZaPrep, and the rehearsal pianist and assistant conductor for the Brooklyn chapter of HaZamir. Additionally, Hannah was a 2023 Young Conducting Fellow at the North American Jewish Choral Music Festival. They love community organizing and they co-host monthly rounds parties with Lili Tobias (if you’re reading this, you’re invited!)
As a vocalist, Hannah has been featured in the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Sing For Hope’s Pop Up Piano Pride series. They currently compose and sing soprano for NYC’s choral composer/conductor collective: C4. Hannah often performs with pianist and composer Lili Tobias, bringing a mix of contemporary and historical art song to the streets, ice cream shops, and yarn stores of NYC.
Hannah is in love with people and their voices and will sing or write about anything as long as it’s a good story. They are a lover of all cats, most hyperbolic triangle groups, and probably you.