The Swiss soprano and violist, Anna Gschwend, completed studies with Professor Lina Maria Åkerlund (singing) and Wendy Enderle-Champney (viola) at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in Zürich, and in 2015 she completed her Master of Arts in Music Education on solo singing and viola "with distinction". She studied classical singing with Susan Waters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London ("Historical Performance"), where she graduated in 2017 "with distinction". Master-classes with Margreet Honig, Sigiswald Kuijken, Yvonne Naef, Roger Vignoles, etc. enriched their education. She has been a recipient of numerous competitions (including the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize) and scholarships from the Gamil Foundation, Hirschmann Foundation, Yvonne-Lang-Chardonnens Foundation, Leanara Foundation, The Leverhulme Trust Foundation and The Edith May Cattell Foundation.
Anna Gschwend has performed in the following opera roles in recent years: Barbarina in W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (2010), Nanette in Der Wildschütz (2012), Elisabeth in Der Treibhäuser (2013), Don Ettore in La Canterina (2015/2017), Esmeralda in The Bartered Bride (2015), Grilletta in Der Apotheker (2016), Eurydice in The Corridor (2016), Silvia in L'isola disabitata (2016) and Pamina in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (2017).
Particularly noteworthy is the regular collaboration with the Ensemble La Petite Bande under Sigiswald Kuijken in Belgium, where in addition to opera productions and concerts in Europe, in 2017 a Japan tour and a CD recording took place. A major focus of her work is concert singing, and in recent years she has discovered a great passion for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. She has sung numerous world premieres, including works composed especially for her. |