ANNA MICHELS

Scottish-Dutch pianist Anna Michels has performed internationally as a soloist and collaborative pianist. She was one of the first students to be awarded a double bachelor degree from Maastricht Conservatoire in the Netherlands, studying both piano and music theory. Anna graduated from her Masters and Artist Diploma at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Head of Keyboard Aaron Shorr. 

Alongside vocalists and various chamber ensembles, Anna has won prizes internationally, including the Scando Vocallis Lied Duo Competition, the Elgar Spedding Memorial Lied Competition, the International Swedish Duo Competition, the International Anton Garcia Abril Chamber Music Competition, Cavatina Intercollegiate Competition, and the Classical Concerto Competition at RCS, where she played Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto under the baton of Martyn Brabbins in City Halls Glasgow. 

She was selected as an Oxford Song Young Artist for 2024-25 alongside duo partner Rosie Lavery. The pair feel passionately about bringing music to those who may not necessarily have access to the arts, and so work as artists for charity Live Music Now Scotland as well as running a community choir based in Eaglesham. Anna is a recipient of the Cross Trust and was awarded the Falkirk Civic Trust “Young Personality of the Year”.

Anna has an interest in unearthing hidden treasures of the classical repertoire, with a focus on Scottish composers. This has culminated in giving lecture-recitals internationally, including at the London International Piano Symposium and Musica Scotica Conference. Alongside soprano Rosie Lavery and accordionist Neil Sutcliffe, she co-founded the “Bubblyjock Collective”, an ensemble dedicated to performing works by composers born or based in Scotland. As an awardee of the Chamber Music Scotland “Classical EDI Development Fund” for 2025, Anna has been researching the work and lives of composers Marie Dare and Isobel Dunlop. 

Anna founded the “Ad Libitum Collective”, an ensemble at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland that explores the possibilities of free improvisation. The group collaborates closely with dancers, and this led to a multidisciplinary performance as part of the annual Piano Festival at RCS. As a solo improviser, she represented the RCS at the METRIC Improvisation Conference in Leipzig this year. 

Anna now coaches and accompanies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and has been taken on as the coach for the new Vocal Programme at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh.