Our Team

Founders & Directors

Matt & Edwin met doing what they love: Edwin was directing the North American premiere of Gluck’s 18th century Versailles party piece L’Arbre Enchanté for the inaugural season of Fire Island Opera (which he also founded) and Matt was cast as the lead. They found they enjoyed strikingly similar interests across a wide variety of topics: spirituality, connection to nature, opera, theater, dance, film, literature, visual art, nature, gardening, cooking, yoga, and meditation to name a few. Their desire to combine all of those things into stories that could help make the world a better place led them to dream of a new company and way of cultivating the next generation of performing artists. That dream is Hogfish.

Edwin Cahill

Director, producer, and librettist Edwin Cahill’s unique background as a concert pianist and Broadway actor “a talented pianist, a first-rate singer, and an engaging stage presence” (New York Times), and linguist with studies at the University of Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle who served as a French/Italian Political Analyst for Medley Global advisors, informs his “joyful and passionate directing” (onmilwaukee.com) that is “light, effortless, and fits the space like a glove” (Music4awhile), leading to a body of work in theater, musicals, and operas that “will make hearts melt” (Broadway World), is “seamless…completely engrossing the patron in the idiosyncrasies of Mozart’s music” (dosavannah.com), “achieved the nearly impossible...and staged every scene with urgency, inventiveness and most importantly, a reverence for the music” (The Huffington Post), and reached the pop culture breakthrough of the “brilliant and highbrow approval matrix” (New York Magazine). His work has led critics to acclaim that “Cahill has perhaps invented a new style of opera…punk opera comique” (dosavannah.com) and that he created “by far the most enjoyable and thought-provoking Don Giovanni New York has heard in many a year.” (Opera News)

Highlights of recent seasons at Hogfish include: a newly set in Maine, English dialogue and direction of Gluck’s THE MAGIC TREE (L’ARBRE ENCHANTÉ), with a commissioned piano-vocal score, orchestral parts, and libretto available for rent. The co-creation and curation of a new English, Spanish, and French libretto and direction of CARMXN at Hogfish, a new musical theater adaptation of the classic opera Carmen exploring borders of gender, genre, and geopolitics. (Also available for rent). And the Maine premiere of Guilliaume Apollinaire and Francis Poulenc’s BREASTS OF TERESIAS, a special English language, two piano-version arranged by Benjamin Britten and Viola Tunnard, in the state-of-the art night club AURA in downtown, Portland followed by TERESA’S TATAS! , the interactive dance party with tunes and themes from the show woven into a night of empowering electronica by DJ xnrg.

As an actor, Edwin won a Kevin Kline award for his portrayal of Cosme McMoon in the play Souvenir, co-starred in the feature film My Dead Boyfriend directed by Anthony Edwards starring Heather Graham, and co-starred in the CBS TV series Person of Interest. Broadway productions include LoveMusik, directed by Harold Prince and the national tour of the Tony award-winning revival of Sweeney Todd directed by John Doyle. He has appeared in over ten productions Off-Broadway and his regional appearances include the major theatres of America and Canada. He holds a B.A. in French - Magna cum Laude from Tufts University, a B.M. in voice from New England Conservatory, and has pursued master’s studies in voice at the Manhattan School of Music and in French Literature of the 19th Century at the University of Paris Sorbonne-Nouvelle.

He is originally from Maine and lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine with his husband Matt Cahill and dog Thisbe. Returning to Edwin’s roots has been deeply meaningful to him - an ongoing search for ancestral connection has led him to the indigenous practices of Celtic ancestors in Ireland and to his Mi’kmaq great-grandmother from Nova Scotia. He has studied shamanism and healing with Puma Fredy Quispe Singona and Ma Tonon Kano. This journey has led him most recently to begin his training as a death doula at the University of Vermont.

Matt Cahill

Matt Cahill (he/they) believes that each of us is inextricably linked with the world around us, and that by shifting the way we pay attention to that relationship, we can live heaven on earth.

Their professions include actor, singer, model, writer, director, choreographer, artistic director, administrator, producer, and teacher. Their art forms include film, television, physical theater, musical theater, concert, opera, and the Alexander Technique. As Le Monde in Paris declared of their performance of Papageno in Peter Brook’s Molière Award-winning adaptation of The Magic Flute, Une Flüte Enchantée “you really want to hear him in either an opera or a musical. He has a big presence, a warm baritone voice, immense humanity, and the gift of an actor.”

They have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Repertory Theater, Barbican Theatre on The West End, Les Bouffes du Nord in Paris, Piccolo Teatro in Milan, New York City Opera, and The Kennedy Center; sung with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Leipzig MDR Symphony Orchestra; and appeared in the National Tour of Scrooge: The Musical, on television in Law & Order, and in the feature film The Producers!

Matt received their BM in voice from the Juilliard School, MM in vocal arts from Bard College Conservatory, and completed further studies in Lecoq with Marcello Magni. Dedicated to learning from the leading pedagogues in the world, Matt completed levels one and two in Estill voice work with Tom Burke and received certification in all three levels of The LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™. They trained at the Balance Arts Center with Ann Rodiger to become an AmSAT-certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, and completed the Developing Self Education Training Course in teaching Alexander Technique to K-12 with Judith Kleinman and Sue Merry. Matt is passionate about educating the next generation of artists in a way that empowers each artist’s inner creative fire and self-agency, is inclusive, diverse, and “out-of-the-box” in terms of both human and artistic genres. They consider the regenerative arts residency at Hogfish to be the culmination of their work creating an incubator space for the next generation of stories as medicine from artist to community and back again.

An avid activist for equal rights Matt has produced and performed in the concert series You Are Not Alone alongside Betty Buckley, Lea DeLaria, Aaron Lazar, Ricky Ian Gordon, John Tartaglia, Jeanine Tesori, and many more. The concerts have raised tens of thousands of dollars for The Trevor Project, a national suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQIA+ youth.

They currently teach at the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program for the Metropolitan Opera as well as the Circle in the Square Theater School. They developed the curriculum and for five years led Juilliard Summer Performing Arts voice and musical theater programs. In addition, they have taught for Bard College Conservatory, Montclair State University, Brooklyn College Conservatory, SongFest at Colburn and the Gilman School.

Most recently at Hogfish, they starred as “The Husband” in BREASTS OF TIRESIAS, and directed the Maine premiere of Ana Sokoloviç’s a cappella opera SVADBA inspired by women, ritual, and Balkan folk music. The show included an immersive healing ritual pre-show for the audience, and a post-show Balkan folk dance party with the Balkan Brass Band Conical Beats.

They are originally from Baltimore, Maryland and now live in Cape Elizabeth, Maine with their husband Edwin Cahill and dog Thisbe.

Managing Director

Sarah Zahran

Sarah hails from a background in engineering, visual art, education, and agriculture – weaving together these threads to build resilient and heartful communities. She works to create spaces that invite people to remember their deep connections to others, to the world around them, and to their own humanity.

After receiving a degree in mechanical engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, she pivoted to a career in the arts, working in the studio of the late Robert Deyber. She served as a teaching artist for several organizations in northwestern Connecticut, writing and delivering programming for adults and children of all ages.

In 2021, Sarah joined Freight Farms, a Boston-based Ag-Tech company and maker of hydroponic container farms. Here she led the Customer Experience team, helping farmers across the globe operate smart farming equipment. During her time in Boston, Sarah worked with several community organizations focusing on workforce and creative development for teens in underserved communities.

After completing a permaculture design certification course, Sarah knew that the principles of regenerative agriculture were applicable to more than growing plants. The paths to healing ourselves, our communities, and our planet are inextricably linked, and she understands her role is to help illuminate the way. She now resides in Gorham, Maine with her cat Ramy.

Podcast Producer

Cinnamon Denise

Cinnamon "Cinnamontal" Denise is a producer, bassoonist, singer/songwriter, educator, yoga instructor and Founder of Cinnamontal Productions.

Dedicated to creating a safe space for all, she is a member of the inaugural facilitator cohort for Calling All Crows' Here for the Music campaign, a campaign that trains the music community to detect, prevent and intervene against sexual violence at music events and venues.

She has a Bachelor of Music in Media Writing and Production from the University of Miami, Master of Music in Music Technology from Berklee College of Music, and has collaborated with GRAMMY award winning artists in the music industry.

Cinnamontal Productions is committed to making meaningful music, media, and movement. Whether that be an empowering song about being an incredible HUNTRESS, creating a podcast that provides holistic guidance to becoming a sustainable music career like The Music Executive podcast, everything Cinnamontal Productions makes or contributes is intended to perpetuate the greater good of the human experience.

Podcast Host

Hillary S. Webb

Hillary S. Webb, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist, author, and host of the Hogfish Resonance podcast.

In addition to her hosting duties, Hillary is a faculty member in the graduate program at Goddard College and is the former managing editor of Anthropology of Consciousness, the peer-reviewed journal of the Association for the Anthropology of Consciousness. Having received her BA in journalism from New York University, Hillary went on to earn an MA in philosophy of mind from Goddard College, and a PhD in psychology from Saybrook University. She is the author of four nonfiction books: The Friendliest Place in the Universe: Love, Laughter, and Stand-Up Comedy in Berlin, Yanantin and Masintin in the Andean World: Complementary Dualism in Modern Peru, Traveling Between the Worlds: Conversation with Contemporary Shamans, and Exploring Shamanism.

As a result of her background and experience, Hillary generates multi-layered dialogues with Hogfish Resonance guests. Her passion for conversation-style interviewing and her love of “deep hanging out” yield rich insights into the relationship between artistic creation and our collective regenerative capacities. As Hillary puts it,

“We so often overlook the transformational power of even the most casual conversations. Human beings are full of such profound, untapped wisdom, and I am continually amazed by how each Hogfish Resonance guest offers some small illumination into the mystery of who we are and what we might become as a result of our engagement with regenerative arts practices. From a mixed-media performer discussing the necessity of artistic “rewilding” to a horticulturist’s inspiring meditation on the inseparable relationship between nature and the arts, I am so excited about Season 1 … and all the seasons to come.”  