Anna von Hausswolff

Anna von Hausswolff

Anna von Hausswolff is a musician and composer exploring the myriad of possibilities and the potential for new expressions on the pipe organ. Anna has performed on pipe organs all over the world, as part of this ongoing quest of discovery. Her polyrhythmic sound is ever-changing and full of contrasts, often distinguished by fluid transitions of calmness and drama, harmony and dissonance, with various overlapping elements. Her imaginative approach is open-minded to sonic possibilities and different perceptions, drawing inspiration from wherever it may appear.

Anna has written and released four full-length albums; Singing From The Grave (2010), Ceremony (2012), The Miraculous (2015) and Dead Magic (2018), often recording with a cast of other musicians. Her forthcoming release, All Thoughts Fly on Southern Lord sees Anna in solo instrumental mode. The entire record is just one solo instrument, the pipe organ, all songs written and played by Anna von Hausswolff. Recorded in Gothenburg at Örgryte New Church, on their Quarter-comma Meantone tempered North German Baroque organ. All Thoughts Fly was recorded in 7 days in January 2020, the songs were written in 2019 and 2020.

Anna has recently toured the UK with Sunn O))) (and guested on their live session for Mary Anne Hobbs airing on BBC 6 Music), has supported Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Swans, Efterklang, Refused to name a few. Anna was invited by Nils Frahm to perform his curated event “Possibly colliding” at the Barbican, London and by David Byrne to perform at his curated Meltdown festival at Southbank centre, London. Other key live appearances include performances at Primavera festival, Roadburn, Roskilde festival, Aural Festival in Mexico City, End Of The Road, Green Man Festival, Way Out West, MONA FOMA Australia and more.

As a spirited collaborator, Anna has worked with Swans (guesting on their album Leaving Meaning), Yann Tiersen (guesting on his album All) and Wolves In The Throne Room (guesting on Thrice Woven). Anna notably performed at the Nobel Prize Dinner (2018) with material written in collaboration Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson. In the same year, Anna performed as a solo vocalist in Alexander Ekman’s ballet “Midsummer Night’s dream” with music written by Mikael Karlsson. Anna has written theatre music for “Gösta Berlings saga” a play by Rikard Lekander (2017).

A restless creative, Anna owns and runs Pomperipossa Records, with several small and experimental releases, that often sell out quickly. Anna also plays in BADA who released their self titled album earlier this year, and is one half of Hydras Dream, a collaboration with Matti Bye (Swedish pianist and composer for film, TV, theatre and dance) who released the album The Little Match Girl (2014).

As an enthusiast of visual arts, Anna has a Bachelor degree in Contemporary Art, studied a masters in music & contemporary art at the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen, and Printmaking at Gothenburg Art School. In late 2019, Anna combined her passion for pipe organs and appreciation of visual arts when hosting her first ever large-scale solo exhibition at Galleri Backlund, Sweden. The work on display was images of imaginary pipe organs, visualised on copperplate engravings, made through various techniques.

Always embracing ambitious undertakings, Anna is currently working on film music for a documentary produced by Swedish television, due to premiere either late 2020 or in 2021. A process which inspired her compositional approach on All Thoughts Fly (2020).


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