FEATURE: Spotlight: Anna Phoebe — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Anna Phoebe

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THIS may appear…

me coming in very late to an artist. To be fair, I have known about Anna Phoebe for many years and I know she is not brand-new on the scene. However, as I love her work and she has been on my mind, I wanted to Spotlight her now. Alongside Aisling Brouwer, Anna Phoebe is part of AVAWAVES. They blend violin, piano, and electronics to create cinematic and immersive music, often exploring themes of resilience, storytelling, and emotional journeys. I may well feature them in another capacity soon enough as I love their work together. Such amazing musicians. A big reason why I want to focus on Anna Phoebe now is not only because she is a board member of the Ivors Academy. In a recent interview, she talked about what it takes to be a composer for film and T.V. This is an area that interests me. I am also very interested in composers in general and some of the inequality and sexism that exists within this sphere. And in Classical music. I was writing about this when I spotlighted Hannah Peel a while ago. She is another amazing – and award-winning – composer, and someone who has faced struggle and sexism. However, like Peel, Anna Phoebe is inspiring so many other people. Such a phenomenal and original voice. Apologies if this seems scattershot in terms of the interviews I bring in and what I include. I just want to give you a bigger impression of Anna Phoebe and all the amazing things she does! I am going to end with a couple of interviews from this one. The most recent one is a chat between Anna Phoebe and Mary Anne Hobbs. The BBC Radio 6 Music queen and legend has long been a champion of Anna Phoebe and they are firm friends. Their mutual respect and love will flourish for years!

I am going to start out with some biography from Anna Phoebe’s official website. Updated before the release of her amazing single, Unravel, we have an album to look forwards to in October. A lot of exciting stuff lies ahead:

“With a myriad of different violins, samplers, meandering vocals, beats, drum machines, and elegant long black leather, we are beautifully steered through tales from beaches, to women’s rugby, satellite construction, and the stars beyond.” - Flush the Fashion, November 2024

Anna Phoebe is a genre-defying composer, performer, producer and broadcaster whose work spans solo albums, film scores, immersive live shows and national radio. Known for her visceral violin-led soundscapes, she creates music that connects deeply with the natural world, translating emotion into cinematic sonic experiences.

Her critically acclaimed releases Sea Souls and Sea Souls (Live) offer a rich, textural dialogue between sea and psyche, while her collaborative projects — including the instrumental duo AVAWAVES and performances with Mary Anne Hobbs — push the boundaries between classical, electronic, and ambient worlds.

Anna co-hosts the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show Add to Playlist, reaching millions weekly with her deep musical curiosity and warm insight. She has scored for Apple TV+, Channel 4, and ITV, and her music has been championed by BBC Radio 6 Music, Radio 3, and KEXP.

A powerful live performer, Anna has played international festivals and concert halls — from Glastonbury to the Royal Albert Hall — and collaborated with artists ranging from Jools Holland to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Whether performing solo or scoring for screen, Anna’s work is bold, immersive, and rooted in emotional truth.

Her new single Unravel is out 23rd May, with a new solo album set to be released in October 2025”.

I am going to move on with something from last year. Speaking with Music Week, Anna Phoebe spoke about the Young Voices Foundation and the future talent pipeline. Not only is she an exceptional composer and artist. This is someone making a huge difference in music and beyond. Inspiring and guiding young people. Making an impact for charity. I will let the interviews speak for themselves in that regard:

“Anna Phoebe is a violinist, composer and board director at The Ivors Academy and, last month, she was appointed one of the first ever ambassadors of the Young Voices Foundation.

Here, she tells Music Week about the Ivors’ new partnership with the largest children’s choir in the world and why it’s vital for the industry to come together to protect and power up the UK’s future talent pipeline…

My first experience of Young Voices was watching my daughter sing and dance her heart out alongside 9,000 other children in one of the organisation’s unforgettable concerts in 2022. It was an incredibly moving experience, the importance of shared live experiences heightened by the two years of pandemic and isolation. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.

Two years on, I’m thrilled that the critical work undertaken by Young Voices over the last 28 years is starting to be recognised by the music industry. As a musician, composer and parent, I can see the overwhelming value that music brings to young people; but as a Young Voices Foundation ambassador and board director of The Ivors Academy, I can’t articulate enough how vital it is that we work together as an industry to support their work.

The newly announced partnership between Young Voices and The Ivors Academy is another important step we are taking as an organisation to inspire, educate and ignite a passion for music in thousands of children and young people.

The Ivors Academy represents the creative source of the music industry; the songwriters and composers who give voice to our emotions and shape our cultural landscape. Through the Ivor Novello Awards and tireless advocacy, The Ivors Academy champions music creators' rights and fights for sustainable careers in music.

This partnership brings together Young Voices' unparalleled reach and The Ivors Academy's expertise and dedication to creators. Together, we will create educational materials for schools to instil in children an appreciation for the work that goes into every song they sing. They'll learn about the songwriters, composers, musicians, producers, and countless others who collaborate to bring the music they learn and perform to life.

This isn't about educating children alone, it's about nurturing the future of the music industry. By fostering a generation that understands and values the creative process, we will inspire the future of our creative industries and cultivate a more supportive ecosystem for music creators to thrive. They are our audiences and fans, and the more they see and experience what goes into creating music, the greater the value they will place on it.

Young Voices is a lifeline for music education in an era of crippling cuts, providing resources for teachers and opportunities for children who might never otherwise have the chance to sing, play an instrument, or experience the joy of creating music. And the organisation provides a platform for inclusivity and unlocks potential like no other. It gives every child, regardless of background or ability, the chance to shine. This kind of high-level inclusivity is crucial for fostering a future music industry that is more diverse and vibrant than ever.

Last year, I witnessed the impact firsthand when I had the privilege of touring with Young Voices as a guest violinist. City after city, children from all walks of life came together, united by music – it was humbling and truly awe-inspiring. No matter their individual circumstances at home or school, I watched 27 arenas full of children find joy and power in the collective experience.

Recently, I've been back in the audience, watching my younger daughter take the stage with her classmates. The anticipation has been building for months, and the concert was an unforgettable experience. But the impact will extend far beyond that hour and a half. The memories, the confidence gained, the love for music - these will last a lifetime.

Young Voices don’t just organise the largest children’s choir concerts in the world. They create experiences for children that stay with them for life. It truly is a testament to the power of music to bring people together, create unique shared experiences, bring joy and help us heal.

The impact and reach of Young Voices up and down the country is huge. Last year it organised 27 UK arena shows and this year there will be 30. In 2024 alone, over 200,000 children will take part in 4,500 schools, and over 230,000 tickets will be sold. That’s more tickets than Glastonbury and, over the last 28 years, 2.5 million children have taken part worldwide.

The return on investment is astonishing. Last year, the arena tour generated £10 million in economic impact across four cities: Birmingham, London, Manchester and Sheffield. The programme delivered £56.5 million in social value through schools and education. To put that in context, it’s the equivalent of 19,000 people achieving five good GCSE results or 81,000 people going from physically inactive to active.

I'm deeply grateful for what Young Voices does. I'm proud to be an ambassador and thrilled to see The Ivors Academy join forces with this remarkable organisation. Together, they have the power to influence the future of music, one child, one song, one magical performance at a time”.

Actually, before jumping to this year, I want to take us back to 2021. During the pandemic and lockdown, Anna Phoebe spoke with Headliner about her forthcoming ICONS E.P. I think 2021 was when I first heard about Anna Phoebe. It was a transformative moment for me. Someone who I have followed ever since:

“After a substantial violin-playing career for the likes of Roxy Music, supporting Bob Dylan and being heard on programmes such as Peaky Blinders, plus collaborations with such organisations as the WWF and the European Space Agency, you’d perhaps think Anna Phoebe would surely be done adding to her CV at this point. Not quite, as this British violinist has been increasingly unveiling her composing ability with a string of new singles that are haunting, stunning, and hugely progressive. Locked down at her home in Kent, Phoebe chats with Headliner about her sparkly playing career, new music and the interjection between her compositions and science.

We do begin on a more sombre note, as Phoebe tells me how grateful she is to have been able to continue doing music during this time, whereas so many self-employed musicians have found this period next to impossible.

“It's been an incredibly tough year for all creators,” she says.

“The general public has depended more than ever on music and TV to get through. And yet the arts are so severely underfunded. A lot of musicians I know just fell through the cracks. They're self-employed, they don't get furlough. So many shows are cancelled, and there's no cancellation fee. Most people I know weren't eligible for any kind of government funding. So I’ve been incredibly lucky to have other projects.”

I mention to Phoebe that I’d wanted to interview her after hearing her string of new singles last year on Mary Anne Hobbs’ show on BBC Radio 6.

“She's the one who actually sort of encouraged me to release the first single, I didn't set out to write a solo album this year!” she says. “I had to do something for BBC Kent. Basically, I was putting together a 10-minute package of what life is like in lockdown, and realised the best way I could communicate this would be through music.

“So I went and sat down by the sea and just had a little think. I was feeling really anxious; it was a scary time when no one knew anything. I went back to my studio and sat down and played some chords and I improvised this violin line. And then I bounced it down, sent it off to BBC Kent with me talking. But then I sent it to Mary Anne Hobbs; she said ‘oh, I want to play this on my show!’

"So I named it By The Sea, and then it got a really good reaction from her listeners who are just so amazing and supportive. Mary Anne is so warm and giving too, so I’ve felt so fortunate.”

“And I've been commissioned to do music for York Minster for the opening night of York Festival of Ideas. So I'd written all this music as a response to the climate crisis and the observation data that the European Space Agency does. I'd flown out to where they do the satellite testing. It was a 10-minute piece of music that was performed with the astronaut Tim Peake, and we won an Arthur Clarke award for education outreach.”

If that sounds like more than enough to keep Phoebe busy, that’s only scratching the surface.

“And also for Cancer Research UK, I wrote a 40-minute ensemble work for choir, strings, piano and violin. And that was responding to research undertaken at the University of Kent, which goes towards helping cancer and Alzheimer's research. The research generates these incredible images. It's like you're flying through your body on the molecular level, and it looks very galactic”.

Let’s bring things up to date. In June, Anna Phoebe spoke with The Boar about the AVAWAVES Heartbeat album and what it takes to e a T.V. and film composer. I also think that AVAWAVES might be an outside bet for inclusion in this year’s Mercury Prize shortlist. They would be a deserved inclusion in my view. Such is the brilliance of the album and how often you will return to it:

“Your music is described as “being rooted in cinematic narratives” and “evoking emotional journeys in the heart and mind”. I have an idea for myself, but I’m interested to hear what this emotional journey is for you in Heartbeat.

Anna: Heartbeat is our third album together as an artist. Waves was our first album, and that was really like us coming together, talking, walking on the beach, jamming together, and seeing what came out of it. We always wanted to write for picture. Because it’s instrumental and we don’t have lyrics, we’d devise this sort of narrative or a mood or an emotion, or a scene in a film in our head and imagine what that intention is – that’s what we would write for the record. Waves was the beginning of that journey. Our second album, Chrysalis, was written pretty much in lockdown. Ash at that time had also moved to Berlin. We started writing together, but the whole album was pretty much done remotelys and locked down. It felt like quite an isolated record. I think with this third album, we’ve got the flow of writing together under our belt now. We can just get into a room and jam out. We went to Berlin, had a few days playing stuff and I think our sound is a lot more raw this time. It’s a lot more vulnerable, like in ‘Raindrop’ or ‘Nightdrive’. Some of those violin and viola parts are just improvised one take. I think we’ve got the confidence now not to try and perfect stuff. There’s a vulnerability to diving into that emotion and that intention that we’ve got behind a feeling that creates this sound world. Whatever comes out, that’s ok, that’s it, it’s done. When writing for picture, you get into the flow of having to trust your instincts working under the pressure of deadlines. This felt like a freedom to explore, explore everything we’ve learned – but just get back to that rawness of exploring emotions together.

This freedom Anna speaks of shines throughout the record. The relationship between piano and strings is one which is dynamic and thrilling, with each component responding continuously to the other. Tracks like ‘Bones’ or ‘Escape’ build and swell to compelling climaxes. Others like ‘Sleep Tight’ and ‘Raindrop’ wind the album down to a state of serenity, ‘Sleep Tight’ becoming a notable standout for its incorporation of vocals. This is all before the album concludes by bursting into life again with the techno delight ‘Crush’. Each track almost becomes its own mini soundtrack, scoring a new journey the listener-explorer is taken on.

Do you have a particular favourite track from the album?

Anna: I think ‘Heartbeat’ feels like an invitation to the album, so I do love that track. It’s interesting in these live gigs, I would say the two polar opposites on the album, ‘Crush’ and ‘Raindrop’ have been my favourite to play. We end the set with ‘Crush’ and then, we strip everything away and we end totally acoustically with ‘Raindrop’. There’s something really powerful going from like a sound thrash dynamic to a rawness. So, I think to answer your question, I would say it probably depends on what mood I’m in. But I quite like the stream of going from ‘Crush’ to ‘Raindrop’. Maybe my enjoyment is the gap in between them.

I love how the album comes to a moment of peace and stasis, only for it to come alive again with ‘Crush’ right at the end when you’re least expecting it. You mentioned making the album in Berlin and with ‘Crush’ I feel as if you’re transported to a Berlin techno club.

Anna: I think because it’s our third album as well, we’ve stopped worrying about trying to fit into a certain genre, or whether people are going to like it. We’ve got to the point where we can write the album that we want to play live. I think we’ve got rid of the exterior voices which make us feel judged – fortunately, we’ve got an amazing label where creative freedom is definitely the name of the game. I think it was our own inner voices of trying to fit into a certain genre which we let go of for this album.

That freedom is definitely evident in the uniqueness of the record. Has anyone in particular inspired you musically?

Anna: We both love quite a wide variety of genres in music. On the more electronic side, you’d have John Hopkins, Marie Davidson or Ella Minus or Avon Emerson. Then, on the acoustic side, I love jazz. One of my favourite albums is the Pharoah Sanders and Floating Points album with LSO, Promises. It’s an amazing album, essentially one track that’s jazz, but classical with a bit of electronics. Any artist who is just following a creative instinct without being too prescribed – that excites me.

We should be living in a country where every single child has access to free music lessons and where music is more valued in schools

I read that both Aisling and you are from very musical families. Did growing up in these musical environments shape the type of art you want to produce?
Anna: Yeah, I think so. My parents, they were in a band together, actually when they were pregnant with me. My mum was a social worker for children and families and my dad is a professor on the Holocaust – so the most serious, despairing jobs you could probably have. But there was always music playing in the house. My mum also plays the violin and I think I always grew up seeing how playing music and listening to music is a cathartic way to balance you holistically. It was never expected that I would ever go into music, I actually studied politics. I think it was a really healthy way to see how music helps you not only academically, but also holistically and mentally. I think I had a really healthy relationship with playing music and listening to music. I’m really passionate about music in schools. I come from a privileged background, my parents could afford lessons for me and I was encouraged to play music. We should be living in a country where every single child has access to free music lessons and where music is more valued in schools. Whether you go on to be a professional musician or not, it’s irrelevant. I think it brings so much else to your life and as a lifelong thing. That’s what I learned through seeing my mum. Despite having a very stressful job, she’d always have orchestra or be playing in chamber groups and exploring music in an extracurricular way. That’s how I grew up appreciating music”.

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I am finishing off with this article from Juno. This Mary Anne Hobbs and Anna Phoebe interview coincided with a recent live collaboration between the two. I would have loved to have been there. Two of my absolute favourite people. I wanted to end with this interview as it shows how many different sides and threads there are to Anna Phoebe. Someone that I am long-overdue spotlighting:

“What do you want? It’s a simple question, you might think. But the variety of reactions to the title of DJ Mary Anne Hobbs and musician Anna Phoebe‘s collaborative art project for Manchester International Festival next week, would suggest a rather large can of worms has been well and truly opened.

The project itself revolves around a one off live performance at Aviva Studios’ South Warehouse on July 15, which will see Phoebe (above, left) playing violin and Hobbs (right) weaving together electronics and field recordings. But it extends well beyiond that. For starters, a board asking the question has been installed in Central Manchester, with the public invited to write their answers or – for the more discreetly minded – post them into the attached postbox.

The board had just gone up the day we catch the pair – Phoebe talking to us close to the sea in Deale, Hobbs on the north bank of the Thames in Central London – for a chat on Zoom. Three or four days later, we get emailed a progress picture, and the Manchester public has definitely got busy. The pair’s avowed ambition that things should, ideally, “get really messy”, had clearly been fulfilled already.

“I’m obviously a huge fan of Mary-Anne through 6Music,” says Phoebe, who also co-presents the acclaimed Radio 4 music show Add To Playlist. when we ask how the two of them first hooked up. “We met through Erland Cooper at the Turner Contemporary, when Mary-Anne was hosting from there. She was a supporter of my music early on, and then started having these crazy ideas that she’d feed me. So we started collaborating that way, really, when you asked me to write some music based on the beach. Then during lockdown you asked me to talk about what it was like being by the beach but during lockdown. Then you were asked to DJ, to do a set for the Tate Britain and we worked together on that set, and we’ve been collaborating ever since and we’ve become good friends.”

“It was wild really,” Hobbs recalls, “I came across this force of nature in Anna, and as she said, our relationship developed over lockdown. I remember reaching out to her and saying “do you think it might actually be possible to collaborate with the sea?” And she said ‘why not, I’ll go down to the shore and see what happens and send you the results.’ What came back was one of the most exquisite pieces of music I think I’ve ever played on the radio, called ‘By The Sea’ and made especially for the show.

“Then our professional relationship opened out. She’d say things like ‘oh it was five in the morning and I went out into the depths of the forest to see if I could collaborate with the nightingales. I thought this is my girl, you know?! Maybe we can try something”.

If you have not heard the music and work of Anna Phoebe, then go and follow her on social media. As a solo artist or as part of AVAWAVES, she is responsible for creating this stunning and engrossing music. The German-born genius is helping to revolutionise and progress Classical music. How we see it. A new album is arriving in October. She is embarking on a tour to promote it. This is an amazing woman that you need…