About
Anna Milburn is a classically-trained soprano from Helena, Montana. Born in Memphis, Tennessee into an air force family, Anna lived in several locations until her family settled in Helena, Montana where she did most of her growing up. She graduated from Carroll College in Helena with a Bachelors in acting and directing theatre. In spring of 2018, she returned to Carroll as an Adjunct Professor, teaching Musical Theatre History and Auditioning. Anna considers teaching to be very rewarding and second only to her love of performing.
After seeing The Phantom of the Opera at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis when she was fifteen years old, Anna knew she wanted to pursue singing and theatre for the rest of her life. After graduating from Carroll, she went on to receive an Associates in Vocal Performance from Casper College in Casper, Wyoming and a Masters in Musical Theatre from the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. During this time, Anna was also training in voice and performing in local theatre shows. Some of her favorite roles include Rosalia in West Side Story, Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, and Kaitlyn in Pasek and Paul’s Edges.
After graduate school, Anna moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue professional theatre. She performed with Stumptown Stages - where she was directed in It’s a Wonderful Life by Broadway producer Corey Brunish - Clackamas Repertory Theatre, and the Portland Dicken’s Carolers. Anna then returned to her hometown and performed in her favorite roles to date: Amalia Balash in She Loves Me and Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. Additionally, Anna sang in two opera projects in conjunction with Musikanten Montana. These included playing Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone and performing Baby Doe’s arias in Herbert Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe.
In Helena, Anna co-formed her first jazz project, a two to four piece band called Coffee Can Stash that went on to perform for three and a half years all over Montana and in front of larger and larger audiences. Near the time of its dissolution, Coffee Can Stash was recognized as one of the leading jazz projects in the state and was the band of choice for the Montana Democratic Party, having an audience that included Vice President Joe Biden. In addition, Anna was also the lead singer of the Butte Big Band. Although theatre is her main focus, Anna has and continues to enjoy singing jazz.
In September 2018, Anna moved to New York City to continue her career in performance. She also continues to keep her hand in teaching, believing the passing on of auditioning information to her students to be a very important part of her successes.