Album Notes

Just when you think you've got her pegged as another romantic piano girl, Anna Dagmar hits you with a collage of noise, a lament for fallen soldiers, or an apocalyptic vision. Wait for the next track: it might surprise you.

Her love of words was born at a tiny desk, in a tiny room, just north of London. St. Albans' Cathedral choir, father's classical radio, and mother's lullabyes echoed all around. And at age seven, one never forgets sitting on the steps of a new home in Massachusetts, on lookout, for the piano delivery truck.

Since 2001, Anna Dagmar has rapidly become known from New York all the way to Stockholm as a virtuosic pianist, prolific song writer, and superb vocalist. Her recent EP, produced by Ben Wittman (Lucy Kaplansky, Patty Larkin, Jonatha Brooke & The Story), was named a Top Album of 2006 in Collected Sounds Magazine and was awarded two Honorable Mentions in the Unisong International Competition. Dagmar is currently working with Wittman on her third full-length album, due out in the fall of 2008. Let the Waves Come in Threes, will feature twelve of her best-loved songs, original string arrangements, and a musical cast including soundscape guitarist Marc Shulman (Suzanne Vega) and trumpeter Shane Endsley (Ani DiFranco).

On stage, Dagmar immediately stands out as a phenomenal pianist and improviser, as her colorful accompaniments weave a tapestry to support the lyrics. According to Amy Lotsberg of Collected Sounds Magazine, "Anna Dagmar is a very skilled pianist... Some pianists I hear and it makes me want to play so that I can duplicate it. This...never. There aren't enough years left for me to be this good!" Her voice is real and intimate, a sound she developed with mentor Theo Bleckmann. Years of dedication to classical and jazz studies, as well as training at the Eastman School of Music have allowed her to stretch beyond the predicatable formulas. First and foremost, however, her music enhances her lyrics, connecting her to a wide audience.

Continuous prodding from fans and musical peers inspired her to publish a complete edition of printed sheet music in January of 2008. The Anna Dagmar Songbook, contains 31 songs and two accompaniment CD's, and is available at performances, with web distribution anticipated by late spring. Dagmar performs frequently in NYC at venues including The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room, and The Cloisters. Touring has included Boston, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Stockholm, Berlin and London. Dagmar is featured as a keyboardist on song writer Nadine Goellner's Live EP (2006), and on cellist Martha Colby's album Across Two Rivers (2005). Other upcoming collaborations include premiering the vocal works of composer Anthony Gatto at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis. While new musical projects continue to expand and develop in Dagmar's life, her own songs hold centerstage.