Whiz Kid of the Week: Aryeh Lev Nussbaum Cohen

Name:  Aryeh Lev Nussbaum Cohen

Age/Grade: 17, senior

School: Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts

Accomplishments:

Aryeh only started singing in 2005 but already he has performed in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and with star musicians including Billy Joel, James Taylor, Cheryl Crow, Sting, and Elton John for his nationally televised 60th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. 

Aryeh joined the Brooklyn Youth Chorus when he was only 11  and learned that he has the most unusual voice type, a countertenor or male soprano. 

“What I really got out of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus was a real sense of musicianship and music skills," he said.

For years people have been telling him that his voice will soon drop and he will no longer be a countertenor, but it has not happened yet and he enjoys seeing the shocked looks of people when they see such a high voice coming from a six foot tall guy.  

Aryeh has put those skills to good work.  He attends LaGuardia High School, made famous by the movie Fame, where he has continued learning music theory and history. For the past two years he has been singing with the Senior Chorus there and last year he was one of only 10 juniors in the group.  In addition to choral work, Aryeh works one on one with an instructor on his solo repertoire which includes compositions in Italian, German, French and English.

Aryeh is also mastering a Hebrew repertoire.  For three years he has been a soloist with the New York City branch of HaZamir, The International Jewish High School Choir, whose mission is to advance the Jewish choral tradition.  On high holidays he also serves as the assistant cantor at the East Midwood Jewish Center, leading services and Torah readings. 

These activities have allowed Aryeh to explore another strong interest, Jewish studies.  This past summer he participated in the highly selective Bronfman Youth Fellowship and spent five weeks in Israel studying, touring, and learning about leadership and the wide range of Jewish identity and beliefs. 

He continues this exploration through his involvement with the Brooklyn United Jewish High, a fellowship of seven Brooklyn synagogues that offers courses for students of different denominations to deepen their Jewish identities, explore Jewish culture, and make new friends. 

Since he was 13, Aryeh has been an observant Jew and has worn a yarmulke and tzit tzit, or ritual fringes, below the hem of his shirt.  "I’m a profoundly spiritual person” Aryeh said.  At school he is known as “The Jewish Kid” and while that at times has presented challenges it has also strengthened his sense of self.  “People may challenge my identity or make assumptions about what they think my beliefs are, but I feel comfortable facing them,” he said.

Ayreh’s third great passion is politics and community service.  During the last presidential election, he was inspired by Barack Obama, and even though he was too young to vote volunteered to work on his campaign. “Politics for me is my fire.”  He also worked on the gubernatorial race of Andrew Cuomo and campaigned for Brooklyn Democratic State Committee Member Chris Owens and Michael Arcuri, a Democratic congressman from Long Island .

In the fall, Aryeh will be heading to Princeton University.  Eventually he hopes to become a rabbi, a cantor, a politician, or a conductor/performer.  He’s already created a YouTube Channel to broadcast his political views and can see himself hosting a political talk-show as the next Rachel Maddow.  In the near term he’d be perfectly happy to snag an internship this summer with Chuck Schumer.

Key to awesomeness:

“It’s the combination of my three unique interests and leadership positions.  I’m a very passionate person,” he said.

Below are clips of Aryeh performing:

Les Berceaux by Gabriel Faure

L'Dor Vador by Josh Nelson, performed at Carnegie Hall

Tal, by Jonathan Rimberg & Jeff Braverman, arr. MB Edelman, performed by HaZamir: at the 18th Anniversary Gala Concert at Lincoln Center - Rose Hall

But Who May Abide from Handel's Messiah at the LaGuardia Semi-Annual Concert 

Know a Prospect Heights whiz kid we should feature? E-mail adam.rabiner@yahoo.com.