Hailed by critics as a “force of nature,” soprano Anna Hersey enjoys performing a wide range of vocal repertoire. A native of Minnesota, Dr. Hersey has performed throughout the United States and Europe, appearing with Palm Beach Opera, Florida Chamber Orchestra, Hispanic-American Lyric Theater, Skylark Opera, The Minnesota Opera, and Theatre de la Jeune Lune (at Berkeley Repertory Theater), among others. A noted expert on Scandinavian vocal literature and diction, Dr. Hersey was a Fulbright Scholar at the Kungliga Musikhögskolan (Royal College of Music) in Stockholm, where she collaborated with pianist Matti Hirvonen. Dr. Hersey also conducted research at Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (Royal Danish Academy of Music) and Københavns Universitet (University of Copenhagen), thanks to a post-doctoral fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation.

Dr. Hersey’s articles have been published in the Journal of Singing, VOICEPrints, and The Opera Journal, and her translations and transcriptions have been published by Plangere and by Carnegie Hall. Her first book, Scandinavian Song: A Guide to Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Diction and Repertoire was released by Rowman & Littlefield in September 2016. Recent performances have been sponsored by Finlandia Foundation, American Scandinavian Foundation, Sons of Norway, The Lief Eriksson International Festival, and The Grieg Society.

An active pedagogue, Dr. Hersey completed the Vocal Pedagogy Certificate at the University of Minnesota under the tutelage of Professor Clifton Ware. She is an active member of professional organizations in her discipline, presenting regularly at regional, national, and international conferences. She is an alumna of the NATS Intern Program, which pairs renowned teachers of voice with talented young professionals. Dr. Hersey holds master’s degrees in performance and musicology from the University of Minnesota, and pursued advanced studies at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. She earned a doctorate from the University of Miami, where she was a Smathers Fellow. Dr. Hersey has taught at Iowa State University, Barry University, Broward College, University of Miami, Eastern New Mexico University, and Cleveland Institute of Music. Dr. Hersey is Associate Professor of Voice at University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. She is former editor-in-chief of VOICEPrints, the peer-reviewed journal of the New York Singing Teachers Association, and serves as editor of Performances, Lectures, and Lecture-Recitals for the CMS Symposium.