Based in Morris, MN
Website: annduhamel.com
“I’ve long had a deep attraction to all things spiritual, which my work as a classical musician reflects. Participating in Tyler Kline’s ‘Orchard’ project in multiple facets—as commissioner, performer, recording artist—expresses this spiritual longing in an earthier way. The music reflects on cultivation, planting seeds, harvesting, and relationship to the land—how working with our hands and soil can yield beautiful, nourishing sustenance for the body and soul.
In the spirit of eco-artivism, my latest project, ‘Prayers for a Feverish Planet,’ encompasses more than 60 new works for piano (and electronics) by composers on 6 continents, all reflecting on the climate crisis.”
Biography
Pianist Ann DuHamel’s performances have been praised as poetic and “… a delight for the ears and the soul” (Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón, Mexico City). She has performed in 17 countries, including concerts at Sala Verdi in Milan, Italy; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland; and Trinity College in Oxford, England.
Hailed as a “forward thinking classical pianist” (Midwest Record) for her debut album Rückblick: New Piano Music Inspired by Brahms (Furious Artisans, 2020), Ann actively champions contemporary composers, recently commissioning works by Flannery Cunningham, Jocelyn Hagen, and Edie Hill, among others.
Ann also appears on the 2022 release Tyler Kline: Orchard (Neuma Records), performing 6 works of Tyler Kline, 5 of which she commissioned. Fanfare magazine praised her performance as “alive … [played with] aching expression.”
Ann’s latest project, “Prayers for a Feverish Planet,” expands and revolutionizes the modern piano recital by featuring new music about the climate crisis. Featuring 60 new works for piano and piano/electronics by composers on six continents, alongside conversation with climate experts and activists, this series of programs asks urgent questions of the listener: How do our actions generate positive change for the environment? How can we live more mindfully and conscientiously as global citizens? What sustainable impact can we create for generations to come? She currently serves as Associate Professor of Music at the U of MN Morris. More at annduhamel.com.
Work Samples
White Parasol (2008) by Ian Dicke, for solo piano. Performed by Ann M. Duhamel. Recorded April, 23, 2022.
“White Parasol was written in reaction to a 2008 BBC news article about the major loss of shelf-ice in Canada’s High Arctic: “Loss of ice in the Arctic, and in particular the extensive sea-ice, has global implications. The ‘white parasol’ at the top of the planet reflects energy from the Sun straight back out into space, helping to cool the Earth. Further loss of Arctic ice will see radiation absorbed by darker seawater and snow-free land, potentially warming the Earth’s climate at an even faster rate than current observational data indicates.””
Those Who Watch (2020) by Gunter Gaupp, for piano and electronics. Performed by Ann M. Duhamel. Recorded November 21, 2021.
“Those Who Watch utilizes an electronic accompaniment: voices of news anchors and billionaires who profit from fossil fuel consumption swirl in a cacophonous cloud of mischaracterizations and misquoted statistics. Meanwhile, voices of scientists and activists form the bedrock of the piece’s sonic landscape, distorted beyond understanding, only truly audible in moments of quiet sincerity. The piano soloist serves as a mouthpiece for anxiety.”