Anita is a conductor and organist, a versatile musician particularly known for her work with choirs and voices. She is the founder and Director of The Swan Consort, a chamber choir of elite singers specialising in early music but performing in a range of styles. She is currently based in County Durham where she plays at Durham School and keeps freelance engagements as she finishes the writing of her PhD thesis. Former Organ Scholar of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, in 2018 Anita was awarded the Limpus, Shinn and Durant prize for the highest mark in practical examinations for Associateship of the Royal College of Organists (ARCO). During her tenure at Sidney Sussex Anita featured on the choir’s recording Great Anthems (Gift of Music) and provided both continuo and solo performances on the Obsidian Label recording William Croft: Burial Service & Anthems, as well as undertaking an number of international tours including to Austria, the USA and Italy. She was selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Women Conductors Programme in 2018 and has attended several workshops including the Opera Conducting course at the National Opera Studio supported by the Royal Opera House. Conducting tutors on these courses have included Alice Farnham, Sian Edwards and Mark Shanahan. She is currently mentored by Jessica Cottis. Anita also conducted in the Women of the World Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in March 2018.
Anita was appointed Director of Music of St. Mary’s Parish Church, South Woodford (London) in 2014, and remained in post as organist and choirmaster until 2018. Her tenure was marked by the flourishing of the choir, including the successful re-establishment of choristers to the weekly sung Sunday services. In 2017-2018 she was Assistant Director of Music at the majestic Beverley Minster in East Yorkshire, near her home town of Hull. Her approach to Choral Conducting is informed by an understanding of vocal technique which is supported by her own vocal studies with Ghislaine Morgan. She has also benefited from conducting tuition from Paul Brough and Neil Ferris. A talented soprano in her own right, she regularly gives solo recitals and is a versatile choral singer She is frequently invited to support other musicians in capacity as accompanist and répétiteur.
Anita has also composed several pieces, many of which draw on her own rich dual heritage as a British-born South Asian. She is currently pursuing a partnership with the Leeds-based poet Sitara Khan to create a song cycle exploring various indices of British Asian experience. Amongst her freelance projects, she is the artistic director for a multi-partner collaboration with The Bridgewater Hall, The Manchester Camerata in the Community and local amateur musicians in Manchester to realise performances of choral and orchestral imaginings of the music of Rabindranath Tagore. This project will include new commissions from talented British composers including Anita herself.
Currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Durham, Anita is available for freelance engagements and performances. For enquiries or to book Anita for an event or teaching, please use the contact form provided.