Ovation Academy of Music

Japanese-American singer-actor Anna Hashizume is an active performer based in the Twin Cities area. After receiving both her Bachelors and Masters degrees in vocal performance, she is equally comfortable on opera and musical theatre stages.

Upon finishing graduate school in May 2017, she went up to Duluth, MN and performed Maddalena in Lyric Opera of the North’s production of Rigoletto. Later that summer, Anna appeared in Mixed Precipitation’s Picnic Operetta as Baucis in Philemon and Baucis: Planet in Peril.

 

During the fall of 2017, Anna was a member of CLIMB Theatre’s PerfCo where she went around Minnesota performing and teaching in elementary schools. At the same time, she was hired by the University of Minnesota and the Twin Cities Opera Guild to introduce middle and high schoolers to opera and classical singing.

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In 2018, Anna was a young artist with Fargo-Moorhead Opera where she covered Ruggiero in Alcina and sang the Waitress in Micheal Ching’s Speed Dating, Tonight! After her time with FMO, she returned to Minneapolis to sing in the chorus of Thaïs with Minnesota Opera. That summer, she performed with Mixed Precipitation’s Picnic Operetta for a second time, playing Mrs. Arlene Page in Dr. Falstaff and the Working Wives of Lake County. In the fall/winter of 2018, Anna made her debut at Artistry Theatre in the ensemble of their production of Mary Poppins.

 

Anna received a Bachelor of Science in vocal performance with an outside field in theatre from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music where she studied with Carol Vaness. She then went on to receive her Masters of Music in vocal performance at the University of Minnesota where she studied with Dr. Wendy Zaro-Mullins. While in school she performed roles such as Meg Page in Falstaff (IU), Zulma in L’Italiana in Algeri (IU), Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia (UMN), Suzuki in Madama Butterfly (UMN), and was featured in the world premiere of The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh (IU). While in school she also sang with training programs Opera on the Avalon and Accademia Europea dell’Opera and worked as a Festival Artist with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre.

 

Anna is a two-time honoree of The Schubert Club’s Scholarship Competition. In 2017 she placed first in the division II group and in 2018 she placed second in the division III group.

While Anna is an active performer in the community, she is very passionate about teaching and is so happy to be working at Ovation Academy of Music!