Roots, Jazz, and American Music
Technology and Applied Composition
SFCM Puts on a Show for the G.A.N.G. Awards
April 12, 2024
Departments
Courses Taught
Conservatory Engage
Professional Fundamentals
Education
Master's Degrees in English, Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Vienna
BM, Jazz Drums from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Ensembles
Amelie Anna performs with her own ensemble throughout the Bay Area
Records for Sony Playstation Video Game Soundtracks (e.g.: Concrete Genie, Death Stranding)
Worked with Martin Luther McCoy (percussion and backing vocals)
Q&A
What is your hometown?
Vienna, Austria
What are you passionate about outside of music?
CATS!! I am obsessed with cats.
I am so lucky to have amazing friends and family and cherish every moment spent with them. I also love cooking and sharing a meal with people. Nature and all the animal friends make me very happy :) And I very much love being a couch potato and playing video games for hours.
Who were your major teachers?
Herwig Stieger, Gerhard Reiter, Carmen Bradford, Carlos Caro and Jake Nissly - THANK YOU!!!
What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?
"You don't need to know everything. You just need to know where to look it up." (Stole that one from my dad)
"When you no longer need me for anything, that's when I've done my job well."
What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?
How should I practice that?
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
When I came to the United States in 2016, got accepted into SFCM and realized that I could actually do this for a living.
What was a turning point in your career?
When Warren Wolf allowed me to sing on one of his tunes at SFJAZZ. That opened up a whole new world of opportunities for me.
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
Psychotherapy
What is your daily practice routine?
Vocal warm-up in the morning, dynamic stretches of my arms (to keep my injury from flaring up and physically warm me up for drumming)
If I can do only one thing on any given day, I work on my sounds/technique on hand drums.
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
Stevie Wonder
Cole Porter
Chopin
From a music history perspective, what year and city are most important to you?
(West) Africa - the traditional rhythms and melodies still shape every single note played today.
What is your unrealized project?
Recording an album!
What do you think makes a concert experience unique?
When people connect to each other, both, in the ensemble/band and with the audience.
What are your most important collaborations?
Every collaboration, especially working on Soundtracks, allows me to put on a different musical costume and bring out a whole new side of me.
For me personally, everything I've ever done with Mia Pixley has been immensely influential and important for me on an emotional and musical level.
What recordings can we hear you on?
Mia Pixley - Mama's Got Snacks (backing vocals)
Mia Pixley - Watering Hole (backing vocals)
Amelie Anna - Promise
Amelie Anna - Zarah
Biography
Following her heart, Amelie moved all the way from Austria (Europe) to San Francisco. Here, she has built a fulfilling career around her first love - music. “For me, the purpose of making music with and for others is to connect with the people around me. My goal as a musician is to reaffirm our shared humanity and bring it all back to the communal aspect of music,” says Amelie. She creates inviting and energetic experiences with her exciting stage presence as multi-instrumentalist, singing and playing simultaneously.
Another lifelong passion is bringing the audio landscape of video games and movies to life with Amelie’s multifaceted and malleable voice. As a little girl, Amelie would secretly play video games at night with the audio on mute, imagining the soundtracks and then listen to the games’ scores during the day. She is proud to have contributed to the soundtracks of Sony PlayStation titles such as the forthcoming “Death Stranding 2” and “Concrete Genie”. Amelie has also composed and recorded for film projects such as Mike Doyle’s “Passing Through”.
Combining her expertise and experience in education with her work as a professional musician, Amelie empowers and supports developing female and femme-identifying artists as Assistant Director of the Roots, Jazz and American Music Program (RJAM) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). Amelie earned her Master’s Degree in English, Psychology, Philosophy and Pedagogy from the University of Vienna and her Bachelor’s in Jazz Drums Performance at SFCM.
Amelie-Anna Hinman in the News
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