ABOUT ANIKA

Praised for her “captivating and sensual” sound (Riptide Magazine), Anika Kildegaard is quickly distinguishing herself as one of the most promising American vocalists specializing in new music and concert repertoire. Equally at home as a chamber musician as well as a soloist, Kildegaard has performed with ensembles across the United States in a variety of repertoire, spanning from baroque oratorio to world premieres written for her voice. Additionally, she performs regularly as part of the GRAMMY Award Winning new music ensemble, The Crossing, as well as the soprano/double-bass duo, LIGAMENT, alongside Will Yager.

The 2024/25 Season will see Kildegaard making her Carnegie Hall solo debut, performing alongside The Crossing in a concert of works by Gabriela Ortiz, as well as her debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, where she will perform Revolución diamantina by the same composer. Also in the season, she will revisit David Lang’s poor hymnal, which she premiered with The Crossing the previous season, on a tour throughout the winter, performing in Philadelphia, New York, Princeton, Iowa City, and finishing in Nebraska. As a member of LIGAMENT, Kildegaard will be in a new works residence at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in October and the University of Iowa in the Spring, as well as in residence at the Peabody Institute performing and workshopping student compositions, on tour through the midwest performing with composer and clarinetist, Jean-François Charles, and in concert with voice/flute duo, Sydeboob. Kildegaard will also be featured as a soloist on a guest faculty recital at Rowan University alongside saxophonist, Noa Even, and in a world premiere by Seare Farhat as part of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.

Among the number of studio recordings that she has been a part of, Kildegaard is most prominently featured on Missa brevis Abbaye de Th​é​l​è​me, 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,” one of the tracks from the larger work, which was nominated for several video and independent awards, including the Berlin Music Video Awards.

As a soloist, Kildegaard has most recently performed Handel’s Messiah at the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, Mozart’s Missa Brevis in F with Delaware Choral Arts, Missa Brevis in G at the St. Alphonsus Church in Baltimore, Osnat Netzer's I won’t be outrun by a cavalry of snails and Kate Soper’s The Ultimate Poem is Abstract with the University of Iowa’s Center for New Music Ensemble, “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,” BWV 140 at Congregational UCC in Iowa City, and Vivaldi’s Gloria at Hennepin Avenue UMC in Minneapolis. Kildegaard’s invitation as a guest soloist for Netzer’s piece came as a part of the University of Iowa’s “Contemporary Music from Israel” festival, which focused on the performance of works by living Israeli composers. Additionally, Kildegaard was recently invited to attend the American Bach Soloists Academy for the summer of 2024, but was not able to attend due to season cancellations from the organization.

Kildegaard has performed with numerous musical ensembles and organizations as a chamber musician and ensemble member, having made her debut with Alarm Will Sound in Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians, appearing as part of LIGAMENT on Denison University’s “Contemporary Sound” Festival and the year-long artist in residence for District New Music Coalition in Washington, D.C., as well as joining Minneapolis based ensemble, VocalEssence, for a tour to Mexico City and for their Lullaby Project. As part of the Lullaby Project, Kildegaard worked with mothers enduring hardships such as homelessness, poverty, or incarceration to compose lullabies that “[embody] the hopes and dreams the mother has for her baby.”