Anne Rainwater is a dexterous musician known for her vibrant interpretations of works from J.S. Bach to John Zorn.

Recognized for her “boldly assertive rhetoric” (San Francisco Examiner) and “sensitivity to performance and interpretation” (TEMPO Magazine), she engages audiences as a soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue and lecture artist around the United States.

Anne has appeared throughout the US, Canada and Europe, including at the Kennedy Center, the Donau Festival, Kampnagel, Severance Hall, Cal Performances, Roulette, the San Francisco MoMA, and Le Poisson Rouge. Diverse appearances include radio interviews on KWMR, KZYX, KALW, and KALX, chamber music performances at Mass MOCA and Bargemusic and concerto performances at UC San Diego and Mendocino College.

Anne curates a house series called the Vernon Salon, which she founded in 2016. She has released 3 solo albums – J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations (2018), Anywhere But Here (2020), featuring electronic keyboard works by Jude Traxler, and Ave Maria: Variations on a Theme by Giancinto Scelsi (2023), a vocal and piano work by Ian Power out on Carrier Records. That album was reviewed by composer Alex Huddleston, who wrote that it was “without a doubt the best music I’ve yet reviewed for TEMPO Magazine.” She has also recorded for Original Abstractions, Bourbon Thomas Records, Pinna Records, New Focus Recordings, Subliminal Sounds, and Oberlin Conservatory’s Aural Capacity series. Alongside trombonist William Lang, she performs as the Lang/Rainwater Project, a duo dedicated to championing traditionally underrepresented composers in the lower brass world, in addition to performing canonical works and transcriptions of classics.

Anne is a 2019 recipient of an InterMusic SF Grant. She is working on a book that explores the intersection of nature, cognition, and musical practice, and particularly, the parallels between thriving ecosystems and optimal ways of understanding and performing music. Her writing and performing has taken her to residencies at the Arteles Creative Center, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Blue Mountain Chamber Retreat, Biophilium and Hypatia-in-the-Woods. Anne holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory and Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program and is also a proud alum of International House of New York. When not at the piano or writing, she is reading, running or obsessively watching baseball. Anne is a member of Beyond Artists, an organization whose members pledge to donate portions of their performance fees to organizations they support and care about.

Artist Statement

My work explores hidden and overt moments of musical joy, wonder and whimsy. I enjoy probing the boundaries of time, speed and density as they reflect our frenetic, modern experiences. I gravitate towards works that include movement, electronics, vocalization, and extended pianistic techniques, and I particularly delight in exploring dense textures in contemporary and Baroque pieces. In my writing and teaching, I foster a detailed understanding of a work’s structural and expressive trajectory. As a performer, I guide audiences towards a deeper, collective experience, from moments of introspection to outward exhilaration. I am interested in the intersection of nature, cognition, and music, and particularly, the parallels between thriving ecosystems and optimal ways of understanding and performing music. As someone who cares deeply about the Earth, I am a member of Beyond Artists, an organization whose members pledge to donate portions of their performance fees to organizations they support and care about.

Medium Biography

Long Biography