Biography

Praised for her “captivating and sensual” sound (Riptide Magazine), soprano Anika Kildegaard specializes in both early and contemporary music.

Kildegaard appears regularly as an ensemble member in GRAMMY Award-winning vocal ensemble The Crossing, and is one half of new music duos LIGAMENT (with bassist Will Yager) and Audra (with saxophonist Noa Even). She is a frequent collaborator with Cleveland-based experimental ensemble No Exit, and has appeared multiple times with new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound. Her early music work has seen her as soloist with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Choral Arts Delaware, Philadelphia Bach Collective, Conejo Valley Choral Society, and The Publick Pleasure.

Highlights from the 26/27 season include staged performances of David Lang’s Poor Hymnal in venues across the US, a fully staged version of Steve Reich’s Music For 18 Musicians with Alarm Will Sound at the Park Avenue Armory, projects with Filament (Philly-based early music ensemble) and No Exit, and the premiere of a new piece scored for silent film by Iowa-based composer Jean-François Charles. With her duos, LIGAMENT and Audra, Anika will also be in residency at New Music on the Point, Brown University, Haverford College, University of Western Michigan, and Davidson College.

Among the number of studio recordings on which she appears, Kildegaard is most prominently featured on Missa brevis Abbaye de Thélème, a genre-bending album released to international acclaim in the fall of 2023 of works by Jean-François Charles that were written for her. Prior to the release of the album, Kildegaard was also featured in a music video of “Agnus Dei,” a track from the larger work, which was nominated for several video and independent awards, including the Berlin Music Video Awards. In continuation of their artistic relationship, the next music video project between Kildegaard and Charles, an excerpt from the opera Grant Wood in Paris titled “An Alphabet for Grant Wood,” is currently making the music video festival rounds and will likely be released sometime in 2027.

Recent highlights from past seasons have included Kildegaard’s Carnegie Hall solo debut in a concert of works by Gabriela Ortiz, her debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, a tour of performances of David Lang’s poor hymnal as a soloist alongside The Crossing, a creative residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute, performances in a world premiere by Seare Farhat as part of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.