Anna E Kravis lives a richly music filled life. She began classical piano studies with Blanche Schwartz at the age of eight. At sixteen she fell in love with the 5-string banjo and studied with Happy Traum and other fine teachers. Anna’s high school instructors were among her first banjo students. As a teenager she was hailed “The new voice of American folk music” on WQXR's iconic Woody’s Children program, and played banjo and sang at many folk music gatherings near her home on Long Island.
Anna graduated from University of Wisconsin in Madison with a B.A. in English Literature. After college, she lived for a time in Woodstock NY, enjoying the vibrant music scene and gorgeous upstate NY countryside. Music luminaries including Bob Dylan, the Band, Van Morrison and Tim Hardin were frequently seen around town. On Friday nights, Santana jammed in the Elephant Cafe.
Later, she moved to Manhattan, where she took acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in Greenwich Village and singing lessons with top teachers at Broadway's famed Ansonia Hotel. Anna performed in NYC nightclubs and played the lead role in the musical Sisters and Brothers off Broadway. That same year, she travelled to Nashville's RCA Studios to record songs from the show. It was there she met and became friends with famed guitarist, Chet Atkins.
Anna has toured internationally with her singing partner, Janice Buckner, as the musical duo Sweet Rose Revue. The duo put their creative stamp on a wide variety of musical genres and featured original songs in main stage concerts for arts councils across the USA. The accomplished singer-songwriters presented a series of concerts at the Whitney Museum in NYC, sang aboard the QE 2 ocean liner, performing main stage concerts continuously for over 13 years. Their two women cabaret show, presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was held over by popular demand. After the successful run of their show, the Scottish Arts Council invited the duo to return to Scotland to play throughout the countryside in quaint towns and villages, in venues large and small.
Anna has offered over a thousand solo concerts for young children and their families at libraries, school and arts centers throughout the Northeast. A prolific songwriter, she has released critically acclaimed albums including Sweet Rose Revue (original songs with Janice Buckner); a solo album of original songs, Journey of the Heart; and two albums of songs for young children (bilingual) Son Los Colores de Mi Mundo and Tot’s Tunes. Her music is available at www.AnnaEKravis.com and through many popular digital stores.
Anna met her husband Miles Kravis when they were both teaching music at a Fidel school in Lattingtown, NY. The multi-talented guitarist and vocalist also plays mandolin, bass and sitar. Miles has performed with Anna in solo shows and with Sweet Rose Revue, adding a perfect third voice to Sweet Rose's vocal arrangements.
Currently Anna enjoys teaching piano and ukulele for all ages. She has taught at Frank and Camilles, as well as Faust Harrison Pianos in Melville, NY. She teaches virtual piano, ukulele, banjo and offers song performance coaching. For more information on lessons visit AnnaEKravisPianoTeacher.com
Anna has a passion for writing and recording podcasts of her original short stories with original music.
Anna performed audio book narration for A Dozen Soulful Shots, a collection of short stories by Israeli writer Anna Kaz, inspired by the photographs of Mikael Berman. Mbphoto.space
Eye of the Beholder by Silvia Maria Rey is a collection of short stories paired with artwork by the author. The book features a short story by Anna E Kravis entitled "Gateways to Summers Past". Published by Xlibris.
Red Penguin Books featuring Anna's short stories;
"The Locked Drawer" (Behind Closed Doors)
"On The Subject Of Light" (Am I Over Thinking This)
"Dr. Bolinger's Hats" (Bloom Literary Journal)
All can be heard as podcasts on the home page of this website as well as available as books on Amazon.com.
Anna is an audio books narrator for Red Penguin Books.
Anna lives with her musician husband Miles and her cat Florie (who served as inspiration for Winsome the Cat short story podcast) on Long Island, NY.