Biography

Award winning performer and Royal Academy of Music alumna, Anna Phillips is establishing herself as a creative and diverse musician. Anna is a former Southbank Centre Future Artist, and has performed on the prestigious Wigmore Hall stage. She is a keen collaborator, and has shared the stage with renowned musicians such as Rachel Nicholls, Konya Kanneh-Mason, Rachel Podger, and Daniel Pioro. Anna has played in a variety of venues including Sinfonia Smith Square, Vortex Jazz Club, Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room and Times Square, New York.

Anna is also an accomplished improviser, and she enjoys collaborating with members of the wider arts industry. She has worked with a contemporary dance artist, which resulted in the creation of their own piece on the theme of nature and technology, using the dancer's movements as inspiration for improvisation. Anna has recently worked with visual artist, Curtis Donovan, where they performed a 20-minute live improvisation on the theme of "Cleanse" at Crossness Pumping Station.

Anna is passionate about participating in community music projects, and this year, she is a Fellow in the Royal Academy of Music’s community music department. Anna is a mentor for Wigmore Hall’s ‘Learning and Development Scheme: Chamber Tots,’ for children aged between 1 and 4 years old. She works with Live Music Now, and has visited schools, hospitals and care homes with her harp.

Having grown up in Wales where she started learning the harp through the medium of Welsh, Anna has recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a Master of Arts in harp performance with Distinction, under the tutelage of Catrin Finch. She also received a Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music for her high final recital mark. She has studied with Karen Vaughan and Skaila Kanga, and has played in masterclasses for internationally acclaimed harpists including Gwyneth Wentink, Isabelle Moretti, Lavinia Mejier and Sylvain Blassel. For the final year of her studies, Anna was a grateful recipient of the Help Musicians Postgraduate Award as well as the James Pantyfedwen Foundation grant. Anna was the Nansi Richards 2023 competition winner, and was a grand finalist in the John Fussell Trust Award.