Ann Sweeten
Steinway Artist

Fifteen-Time Music Awards Nominee, ASCAP Popular Awards Recipient 2002−2014, 2016, 2018−2022

After a quarter century of enamoring audiences on the Concert stage and on Radio/Internet Airwaves, Ann Sweeten’s signature style is recognized world-wide. Often placed in the New Age genre, her style is decidedly unique, embracing not only the classical realm, but aspects of jazz, film scoring, and popular music. Sweeten’s music has aired and been reviewed across the world to wide critical acclaim and these are just some of the accolades awarded to her:

“A pianist whose abilities are unrivaled”;”musical genius”;” beauty incarnate”;” inimitable”;”reminiscent of something written by the great impressionists, out of the ordinary..”; “one of the most instantly recognizable ‘voices’ in contemporary instrumental music”; “musical Narnia”; “exquisite music performed by a consummate musician”; “the touch of a master”; “a true maestro at work”;”outstanding technique”;” her astute control of nuance and tempo will beguile you”; “astounding ability to paint a vivid picture”;”the music bears hints of the musical masters’ phrasing in the music. I hear notes of Barber, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Brahms”; “You can’t call this music ‘Jazz’, nor can you pigeonhole it as ‘New Age’… because it’s purely/simply ‘Ann’ .”; “..I could feel a Higher Power within each song. It is hypnotically intoxicating. Sweeten is a gifted and anointed spirit to be sure.”.

Whatever words you may use to describe this artist, her music is always timeless, elegant and classic, always, Ann Sweeten.

Ann Sweeten’s newest release, Love Walks Through Rain, is a deeply soul-stirring experience that envelops the listener in a blanket of lush, melodic reverie.  While consistent with her world-renowned signature style, Love Walks Through Rain transcends spiritual levels and transports the listener to a higher plane.  Guest Performances include Charlie Bisharat (Violin), Eugene Friesen (Cello), Nancy Rumbel (English Horn), Premik Russell-Tubbs (EWI, Soprano Saxophone), Will Ackerman (Guitar), Tom Eaton (Bass)

Sweeten has written another chapter of her musical “life’s story” in which there has been difficulty and pain but the outcome is, as always, a life-affirming one.  One that offers far more than a glimmer of hope:  Love walks through rain; steadily, with strength and courage, and emerges, out of the fog, into the light.  In Ann’s words: “I have always said that our dogs were the bookmarks in the chapters of our lives, much as my music carries the joy and pain contained in those chapters.  Love Walks Through Rain is one such bookmark.  I decided to name the album, Love Walks Through Rain, because it well describes this chapter of my life.  There has always been plenty of love, tho’ fret with many storms, such as battling Cancer for over 20 years. But Love keeps you going and I have been blessed in that:  my husband has always been right by my side.  Love is the steady gait as we seek to navigate life’s ups and downs.  And my love for my dogs and their love for me, will always warm my heart and cocoon my soul.”

Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records) had this to say: “I’ve had the joy and honor to have worked with Ann Sweeten for 16 years now.   In that entire time I’ve never known her to settle for anything less than brilliance in her composition and performance…one of the most talented pianists and composers on the scene today.  One thing I admire greatly in musicians are those who possess a singular musical “voice”..they sound like themselves and no one else.  Ann Sweeten is certainly one of those.   Love Walks Through Rain, continues to beguile with brilliantly played melody.   The accompaniment of some of the most remarkable players in the world only adds to the breadth of what Love Walks Through Rain gives to her fans. Ann’s best work to date.”

And from Textura’s Ron Shepper: “Sweeten has a special gift for translating emotion into musical form.  While her music is sometimes categorized as New Age, it transcends that designation for its intensity of emotion. Further to that, it possesses a formal elegance and eloquence that aligns it arguably more to chamber classical..  Sweeten excels at fashioning material that speaks with immediacy to listeners’ inner lives, no matter how different their experiences might be. The opening words of Keats’s Endymion (1818), “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” come to mind as I listen to Sweeten’s latest fifty-six-minute offering. ..it’s easy to imagine listeners swooning to Love Walks Through Rain and its predecessors decades from now when they present music of such emotional authenticity.”

One of the most decorated pianists of the past decade with albums consistently ranking in the Top 5 NAR and ZMR Radio Charts, she is also one of the most played modern instrumentalists in North America. Discography includes 16 Albums (1 DVD) and 6 compilations, one of which is The Gathering IV produced by Will Ackerman at Imaginary Road Studios. The Gathering, first in the series, was Album of the Year in 2012. Sweeten blends stylish, sophisticated, technical composition in well-rooted classical themes with originality and passion, resulting in performances that pack an emotional wallop. A truly well-rounded individual and artist, Ms. Sweeten is a staunch environmentalist, animal activist and vegetarian. In addition to her Concert and Recording career, she is also a professional actress/singer/dancer with Actor’s Equity Association. Ann Sweeten is herself a Breast Cancer Survivor twice over, is a featured C.A.R.E. Artist with Healing Health Care Systems and is in her Sixth year battling Leukemia. The C.A.R.E. Channel is the premier nature video and music relaxation programming for patients that is found in over 900 hospital and healthcare facilities in the U.S. and abroad.