Dr. Anne K. Hege, Artistic Director
Dr. Anne K. Hege creates musical worlds that invite an awareness of and attention to the body and our present moment. In her work as a conductor, composer, vocalist, instrument builder, and scholar, she explores the roots of musicality in the intersection of ensemble interaction, technology, embodiment, and expression. In 2014, she completed her Ph.D. in Music Composition at Princeton University, where she studied the role of the body in the creation of meaning in musical performance. Her research was guided by and has influenced her work as a conductor, vocalist, and composer.
Working as a choral conductor since 1999, Hege studied conducting with Melvin Strauss, Marika Kuzma, and Judit Hartyanyi, among others. She founded and directed Folk3000 (1999-2001), Albany Community Chorus (2000-2004), Cuatro Vientos (2004-2006), and Celestial Mechanics (2007-2010). Hege was the conductor of the Holy Names University Chorus (2013-2016), artistic director of Voci Women’s Vocal Ensemble (2013-2017), and director of Level IV of San Francisco Girls Chorus (2015-2022). During her tenure, Voci was a featured ensemble at the She Sings A Cappella Festival, the Sonic Harvest new music concert, and at the Chabot Observatory while presenting seasonal concerts to capacity audiences. She is currently a member of the voice faculty at Mills College and artistic director of Peninsula Women’s Chorus.
As a vocalist, Hege has performed regularly as a choral singer, small ensemble vocalist, and soloist. She has premiered new works by Lainie Fefferman, Jascha Narveson, Dmitri Tymoczko, Daniel Trueman, Matt Marble, and others. She performs regularly on her analog live-looping instrument, the tape machine, in her electronic duo New Prosthetics, and with the laptop ensemble Sideband.
Hege’s compositions have been recognized with awards such as The Elizabeth Mills Crothers Prize, The Gwen Livingston Pekora Prize in Music Composition, and a Mark Nelson Fellowship. She has composed for film, installation art, dance, and concert settings. Her works have been performed by So Percussion, Volti SF, Clerestory, Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Ensemble Klang, NOW Ensemble, Newspeak, Flux Quartet, New York Virtuoso Singers, and loadbang, among others. From 2008-2015, Hege composed musical scores for Carrie Ahern Dance with over 40 performances of these works in locations including the vaults of 14 Wall Street, a retired Lyceum, and Dickson’s Farmstand in Chelsea Market. Hege has received numerous awards and grants, including a New Music USA Project Grant, an INNOVA Records Project Grant, Composer in Residence (Resound Ensemble), Visiting Artist (CCRMA, Stanford University), Research Affiliate (Center of Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Princeton University). Hege’s opera, The Furies: A Laptopera for laptop orchestra and live vocalists premiered on the CCRMA Stage at Stanford in November 2022. For more information, please visit her website at www.annehege.com.
Anne Rainwater, Collaborative Pianist
California pianist Anne Rainwater is a dexterous musician known for her vibrant interpretations of works from J.S. Bach to John Zorn. Recognized for her “boldly assertive rhetoric” (San Francisco Examiner) and “bright golden honeycomb for a brain” (Roy Doughty, poet), she appears as a soloist, chamber musician and lecture artist locally and around the country. Anne engages audiences of classical and contemporary music through solo and group performances, university and community-sponsored lectures, and private lessons.
She has performed in venues and festivals throughout the US and Europe, including the Kennedy Center, the Donau Festival in Austria, Kampnagel in Germany, Princeton University, Bargemusic, Tulane University, and the Paramount Theatre in Oakland, among others. She holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. Anne curates a monthly musical gathering called the Vernon Salon Series, which she founded in 2016. She has released 2 solo albums – J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2018) and Anywhere But Here (2020), featuring electronic keyboard works by Jude Traxler. Anne is a 2019 recipient of an InterMusic SF Grant. She is working on her first book, which explores the internal and external ecosystems that contribute to the understanding, practicing, and performing of music.
Highlights of her 2023/2024 season include performances at Santa Clara University in California and Roulette in Brooklyn, New York, as well as record releases on Carrier and New Focus Records. When not at the piano or writing, she is running long distances, playing tennis, reading, or obsessively watching baseball.