Anni was born in Germany and showcased musical aptitude early on, making up melodies on her grandfather’s piano at the tender age of four. Realising she had a child prodigy on her hands, Anni’s mum subsequently booked her piano lessons. At 15 Anni was leading the school youth choir whilst embracing her teenage ‘rock phase’ jamming on her electrical guitar and mastering the drums, inspired by Canadian punk rock legend, Billy Talent. With her heart set on becoming a music teacher, she studied Musical Pedagogy at Germany’s University of Detmold, though as she worked through her degree, Anni realised that she’d love to become a choir leader. To facilitate the dream, she expanded her degree studies to Classical Choral Conducting, then completed a Master’s Degree in Jazz Singing at the prestigious Guildhall of Music and Drama. “All the studies came together because I had the pedagogy for teaching, then learnt the conducting techniques before studying jazz to shift the conducting into the contemporary world,” she explains. Since 2021, Anni has been directing, mentoring and conducting choirs across genres, including pop, jazz and classical music, specialising in a cappella ensembles. She is a vocal tutor at London’s Institute of Contemporary Vocal Performance and directs choir projects at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Fuelling her love to sing, Anni performs in the award-winning barbershop vocal quartet, Flat Mates (yes, two members are indeed flat mates!) and sings in two other top vocal ensembles; London Voices and London Contemporary Voices. Career highlights have included performing a Quincy Jones premiere on German TV with her vocal quartet, singing backing vocals for Joe Stilgoe with the BBC Concert Orchestra and recording at the iconic Abbey Road Studios! Anni joined The Collaboration Choir in March 2025, relishing the opportunity to join a team of seriously talented (yet incredibly down-to-earth) choir directors. “I liked the idea of the community experience,” she enthuses. “We have a lively WhatsApp group and share warm-up exercises and tips all the time!” Living just a 10-minute stroll from choir practice, Anni – a relative newcomer to the area – is enjoying becoming part of the welcoming Muswell Hill community as well as witnessing the strong bonds that form in rehearsals. “We recently had two new singers who realised they knew each other from decades ago so we had a very heartwarming reunion moment!” she recalls. Anni says she is living her dream of directing, singing and teaching so all that remains on the musical bucket list is to sing in New York. Watch out, Big Apple!