A native of Philadelphia, soprano Leah Hawkins begins the 2023-24 season in Verdi's Messa da Requiem and X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the Metropolitan Opera, reprises her roles in X at Seattle Opera, and debuts as Giorgetta in Il Tabarro at Dutch National Opera. She had a series of exciting role and house debuts in the 2022-23 season, beginning the season as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka at Pittsburgh Opera, followed by Ariadne auf Naxos at Arizona Opera, Tosca at Opera Memphis and Santa Fe Opera, and Musetta in La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera. The winner of the 2023 Marian Anderson Award and a 2022 Richard Tucker Career Grant, she presented a recital at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, sang Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Verdi's Messa da Requiem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel.