Our People
Founders
Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar
Executive Director, Polyphony Education
A visionary champion for youth and community development and a gifted violinist, Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar has led and inspired people from all walks of life across Israel, Europe and the U.S. He performed with and was a spokesperson for the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for a decade.
In 2006, Nabeel gave up his music career and returned to his hometown, the Arab-Israeli city of Nazareth, to answer the need he saw in the community for quality music programming. He founded and led the Barenboim-Said Conservatory there. As his efforts expanded, in 2012 along with Craig and Deborah Cogut, he co-founded PF in the USA and Polyphony Education in Israel and the Conservatory was renamed the Polyphony Conservatory.
Having begun his violin studies at age eight, he graduated from Tel Aviv University in both physics and music, and completed his master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik, in Rostock, Germany.
For his groundbreaking work, Nabeel has been honored with the Charles Ansbacher Music for All Award (2015), Yoko Ono Lennon Award Courage for the Arts (2012), and an Honorary Doctorate from Washington College (2012).
Craig Cogut
Craig Cogut is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Pegasus Capital Advisors, a private equity impact investment firm focused on sustainability, health and well-being. Since 1996, Mr. Cogut has assembled a world-class team of investment, operational, and policy professionals who share his vision for realizing investment profits through solutions for global and societal environmental and health challenges. He has led Pegasus to focus on businesses that deliver real world impact and growth by addressing fundamental systemic needs. Mr. Cogut has led some of Pegasus’ most successful global investments including, among many others, Pure Biofuels, Six Senses Hotels, Coffeyville Resources, Cannondale, Pantheryx and Climatec.
Under Mr. Cogut’s leadership, Pegasus has focused on the need for resource transformation in light of resource scarcity and climate impact as well as the growth in global demand for better health and wellness. This focus on planet and human health has led to Pegasus’ becoming the first U.S. private equity fund manager to be accredited by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). With GCF’s support, Pegasus manages numerous investment vehicles such as the Subnational Climate Fund, the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, and the Barbados Blue Green Bank, all focused on the Global South addressing green infrastructure, sustainable agriculture and ocean production, ecotourism, energy transition and efficiency and the circular economy. In addition, Mr. Cogut has led Pegasus to comprehensive partnerships with UNDP, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), among others.
Mr. Cogut is a Graduate of Harvard Law School and Brown University.
Deborah Cogut
Deborah Cogut is a lawyer and civic leader involved in organizations focused on education and child advocacy. She currently serves as a member of the Children’s Defense Fund Board of Directors. Chair of the Children’s Defense Fund New York Advisory Council and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Children’s Hormone Foundation. She has also served as a volunteer for Project C.U.R.E. on medical aid missions to third world countries.
Previously, Deborah was an attorney with Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton LLP, Vice President at RKO Pictures and Associate Counsel at HBO in New York and Los Angeles. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar from Columbia Law School.
Board of Directors
Polyphony Education
Dr. Adi Francis, Chairman
Dr. Adi Francis serves as the Head of the Cardiology Services and Intensive Cardiac Care Unit at the Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth. He is also a member of the Israel Medical Association and Israel Heart Society. Dr. Francis received his M.D. from Hebrew University.
Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, Executive Director
Nini Achinoam
Nini Achinoam (also known as NOA) is Israel’s leading international singer and songwriter. She is also Israel’s first Good Will Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Bassila Bawardi
Dr. Bassila Bawardi is a senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and Oranim College, specializing in modern Arabic literature and literary genres in the nineteenth century. He is the author of The Lebanese-Phoenician Nationalist Movement: Literature, Language and Identity, 2016.
Hanna Gaifman
Dr. Hanna Gaifman is Director of the 92nd Street Y’s Tisch Center for the Arts in New York. She has a Master’s degree in Slavic Languages and Literature from Stanford University and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Hebrew University.
Hank Havassy
Dr. Hank Havassy is the co-founder and joint executive director of Eshhar. He earned a Master’s degree in Social Work from Bar-Ilan University and Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of South California.
Singana Qassem
Dr. Singana Oassem is a well-respected family and geriatric doctor at the Maccabi Health Services in Nazareth, the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel. She studied medicine at Tel Aviv University and received her M.D. from the Medical University in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Lynn Holstein
has served in institutions such as the Jewish Museum, the Harvard Design School, and the Israel Museum. She earned an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. In 2000, Lynn made aliyah and directed Stef Wertheimer’s New Marshall Plan for the Middle East.
Aviad Meitar
A co-founder and active Chairman of Music for Dialogue (MFD), which uses music as a tool for fostering communication and mitigating conflicts. Senior executive with Quadrant Management, New York for over 25 years. Received his Bachelor of Law degree from Tel Aviv University and his MBA degree from Boston University Graduate School of Management; 2016 fellow of the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University.
Our Staff
Sherry Rose | Institutional Giving Director and Grant Writer
Sherry Rose manages Polyphony’s institutional fundraising, with a focus on grant-writing and reporting for foundations within Israel and abroad. Sherry has been a grant writer for over 25 years, leading institutional giving programs for New York City nonprofit organizations across wide-ranging sectors. Since 2014, when she launched her own consulting business, GrantWritingPro, she has helped nonprofits of varied size and scope in the U.S. and internationally increase their grant seeking success. Sherry is a founder and leader of Grant Professionals of New York City.
Jennifer Levine | Development Consultant
Jennifer Levine is Senior Director of Development at the Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments, supporting Centre ValBio and the Turkana Basin Institute through Stony Brook University Advancement. She previously served as Director of East Coast Philanthropy at IFAW, Director of Special Events at Park Avenue Armory, and held progressively senior roles at the New York Philharmonic. At Polyphony, Jennifer works with the US Team on long-term development strategy and donor stewardship.
Guy Feder | Artistic Consultant and Conductor
At Poliphony, Guy brings extensive experience in conducting, teaching, and program development, creating engaging, artistically rich experiences that foster meaningful musical dialogue.
Guy is an internationally acclaimed conductor and music educator known for his holistic approach and advocacy of classical and contemporary music. He is Musical Director and Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s Children’s Series, collaborates widely across genres, and has led major orchestras internationally while shaping youth education through innovative programs and mentorship.
Rawan Bisharat | Deputy Conservatory Director, Pedagogy, Administration & Community Engagement, Music & Society Seminar Director
Rawan is a former chair of the Mixed Cities Jaffa Committee at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College. Bisharat previously served as Co-Executive Director of Sadaka-Reut. She is a board member of Beit System Al. In addition to her leadership roles, she works as a facilitator of dialogue groups, focusing on fostering shared society, critical conversation, and community engagement among diverse groups.
Maya Blumenfeld Reshef | Music & Society Seminar Music Director
Cellist Maya Blumenfeld Reshef received her master’s degree, with honors, from Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Equally committed to education alongside her performance career, she currently serves as an ensemble instructor and cello teacher at the Tel Aviv Conservatory.
Lian Farah and Laila Haimovich | Group Councillors and Director Assistants
Yanal Khoury | Deputy Director of Music, Artistic Leadership & Oversight
Yanal is a conductor, violinist, and violist with the Galilee Chamber Orchestra and the “Alhan” Project. He also serves as an educator and conductor in the “Music and Society” Seminar and as Artistic Director at the Polyphony Conservatory.
Yanal holds a master’s degree in conducting and a bachelor’s degree in musical performance (violin) from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy”, Leipzig.
He has conducted several orchestras, including the Galilee Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, and the Palestine Youth Orchestra. He has also participated in conducting masterclasses with maestros Zubin Mehta, Ivan Fischer, Gianandrea Noseda, and Lahav Shani.
Yanal is a member of the Barenboim-Said Foundation (FYMO), the Galilee Chamber Orchesta, and the Palestine Orchestra, and has performed with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Olfat Hadad | Conservatory Secretary
Olaf Hadad is a software engineering and interior design studies graduate. Hadad’s varied professional experience includes posts in the architectural field, in Israeli Banks, and as an administrator for the Nazareth Regional Training Center in Nazareth Hospital.
Doron Alperin | Galilee Chamber Orchestra Coordinator
At Polyphony, Doron is the principal violist of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra and oversees the orchestra’s musicians. Doron Alperin was born in 1978 in Israel, studied at the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Rubin Academy at Tel Aviv University.
Doron has extensive orchestral experience, having performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia (London), the London Symphony Orchestra, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (conducted by Daniel Barenboim), and the Jerusalem Camerata. Since 2008, he has been a member of the World Orchestra for Peace, and in 2018 he joined the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion.
David Sofer | Alhan Music & Pedagogy Director
David Sofer is a prominent Israeli conductor, pianist, and music educator dedicated to fostering cultural bridge-building through excellence in the arts. At Polyphony, he serves as the Artistic and Pedagogical Director of the Alhan educational concert program and is a regular conductor of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra.
Throughout his career, David has held numerous leadership roles, currently serving as the Director of the Herzliya Music Center and Conservatory. His extensive experience as a music director includes leading the Thelma Yellin High School Symphony Orchestra, the Technion Symphony and Wind Orchestras, the Israel Doctors’ Orchestra, and the Sharon–Herzliya Orchestra.
As a guest conductor, David frequently performs with Israel’s leading orchestras and maintains an active international career, appearing regularly on stages across Europe, including France, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. He is a graduate of the Thelma Yellin High School of the Arts and the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he specialized in orchestral conducting.
Hanan Badarne-Na’amne | Alhan Coordinator
Hanan Badarne-Na’amne holds a double master’s degree in music education and music therapy from Levinsky College. Hanan is a devoted music educator with over 28 years of experience in the Israeli school system, she serves as a music education mentor for kindergarten teachers and works at PISGAH, where she leads training and professional workshops. Hanan also has extensive experience in directing educational concerts, including programs such as Tzlilim Shluvim and Alhan, and has been actively involved in Polyphony’s “Million Guitars” program.
Shaden Nahra | Musicians Coordinator-Alhan Project
Violinist Shaden Nahra holds a bachelor’s degree in classical music from Tel Aviv University and a Master’s degree in Contemporary Music and Production from Berklee College of Music, Valencia. A member of the Galilee Orchestra since 2013, he is also an active performer, composer, and producer with a rich background in contemporary music and interdisciplinary projects.
Benjamin Webster | Development Associate
At Polyphony, Benjamin assists the Executive Director Nabeel Abboud Ashkar with donor stewardship and fundraising operations, with a particular focus on Polyphony’s US-based supporters. Benjamin is a graduate of the University of Miami, University of Southern California, and Yale University, and he has previously held administrative roles at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and Yale’s Office of New Haven Affairs.
Rim Awad | Administrative Director
Rim Leads Polyphony’s administrative operations, overseeing finance, compliance, and organizational processes that support its programs, and collaborates closely with the CEO and senior management to support program delivery and overall coordination.
Rim holds a bachelor degree in classical vocal performance (opera) from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv. Alongside her musical development, she spent nearly three years working in data annotation and analysis for AI systems at two startups across different fields. She has also been actively engaged in multilingual translation work, operating across three languages in a variety of professional contexts.
Ran Zarzevsky | Interim Production Manager
At Polyphony, Ran takes on the role of executive producer, leading external productions, festivals, and special projects.
Ran Zaezevsky is the Co-Director of Z Productions, with over thirty years of experience in entrepreneurship and project management in the fields of culture, arts, and entertainment. He has led collaborations with major producers and cultural institutions in Israel and around the world.
Lilach Saad | Governmental Funding Officer
Lilach holds a master’s degree in organizational development and consulting with honors from the Academic College of Jezreel Valley. She served as Polyphony’s Programs Director from 2016 to 2022 and sits on the board of directors of the Nigun Halev NPO, an organization that promotes community volunteer activities. She also holds a certificate in group facilitation and works as a facilitator of dialogue groups in mixed Jewish-Arab groups.
Naim Najar | Accountant
Naim Najjar, CPA, is a partner in a leading accounting firm in Haifa. An economist, Najar serves on the board of the Bank of Israel, has served as Chairman of the Board of the El’in Regional Water and Sewage Company, and has served in other positions in public entities and organizations.