Anna Calvi

This article is about the artist. For her eponymous first album, see Anna Calvi (album).

Anna Calvi
Calvi performing in September 2018
Calvi performing in September 2018
Background information
Birth nameAnna Margaret Michelle Calvi
Born (1980-09-24) 24 September 1980 (age 44)
London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2005–present
LabelsDomino
Websitewww.annacalvi.com

Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi (born 24 September 1980) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has been noted by some critics as a virtuoso guitarist,[3] as well as for her powerful, wide-ranging operatic contralto voice and sometimes androgynous stage appearance.

Born to therapist parents in London, Calvi graduated from the University of Southampton with a degree in music, having studied violin. She subsequently worked as a private guitar instructor before embarking on a music career. She released her eponymous debut album in 2011 through Domino Records to critical acclaim, earning a Mercury Prize nomination for Album of the Year, a British Breakthrough Act nomination at the 2012 Brit Awards and a European Border Breakers Award.

Her second album, One Breath, was released in 2013, earning her a second Mercury Prize nomination. She followed this in 2014 with the EP Strange Weather and subsequently wrote the music for a stage production of the opera The Sandman, directed by Robert Wilson. Calvi released her third full-length album, Hunter, in August 2018, earning her a third Mercury Prize nomination.

  1. ^ a b "Anna Calvi album review". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference qobuz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Anna Calvi – Latest Album Review". Clash Music. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2012.