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The American choral conductor asnd music pedagogue, Anna Hamre, holds a BA degree in vocal and instrumental music education from Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; an MM degree in choral music from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley; and a DMA in choral literature and performance from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
In demand as a conductor, clinician, and adjudicator, Anna Hamre became Director of Choral Activities at California State University, Fresno in 1999, where she conducts the Concert Choir and Fresno Community Chorus, Master Chorale and Coro Piccolo. These choirs frequently collaborate with other area musical ensembles, especially the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra. Her work has taken her beyond the USA to Mexico, China, Italy, Austria, and England. Her various positions have given her the opportunity to conduct numerous new works, including the American premiere of Philip Wilby’s 2004 reconstruction of W.A. Mozart’s Mass in C (Novello).
Currently Anna Hamre is serving as President-Elect of the American Choral Directors Association, Western Division, and as Western Division Representative on the Council for Choral Education of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). She is a member of the advisory board for Valley Public Radio Station in Fresno.
Recent honors include the California Association for Music Education (CMEA) President’s Award (2013), Fresno Arts Council Horizon Artist Award (2007), the CMEA Choral Conductor Award (2006), the CMEA Central Section College/University Music Educator Award (2006), the Fresno-State College of Arts and Humanities Excellence in Teaching Award (2003), the Fresno-Madera Counties Music Education Association Choral Educator Award (2003), and recognitions from Fresno-State music fraternities.
Anna Hamre is the author of The High-School/University Sight-Singer (Masterworks Press), a music-literacy method in use in every state, plus the District of Columbia, Guam, British Columbia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. Her new publication, The Weekly Sight-Singer: An Abbreviated and Accelerated Method, was released in the summer 2011. She has presented sessions for various choral-conducting and music-education organizations at local, state and national levels. Her articles have appeared in state music magazines plus the International Choral Bulletin, The Choral Journal, and Spotlight on Teaching Chorus. |
