Anna Wilkens-Reed, Artistic Director | Flutist
Anna Wilkens-Reed is a flutist based in St. Louis, MO and Memphis TN. Originally hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Anna began her music lessons at age five after becoming enraptured by the flute solos during a performance of the Magic Flute. Mrs. Wilkens-Reed has performed and collaborated with The Eroica Ensemble, The Memphis Symphony, Aaron Neville, Iris Orchestra Memphis, The Memphis Repertory Orchestra, the Westpfälzisches Symphonieorchester and the United States Air Force Band-Europe.
She has also performed in various masterclasses for Valerie Coleman, Wissam Boustany, Stephanie Winker, Alexa Still, and Paula Robison. After relocating to Germany in 2012, Mrs. Wilkens-Reed studied with Stephanie Winker of HfMDK Frankfurt while serving as the assistant principal flute of the Westpfälzisches Symphonieorchester in the Rheinland-Pfalz. Mrs. Wilkens-Reed is especially dedicated to mentoring younger musicians and finds joy in helping her students reach their own personal goals in music. She particular enjoys chamber music coaching and woodwind pedagogy classes with beginning and intermediate students.
Anna is an advocate of new music and enjoys commissioning or collaborating with composers on new works for flute and other mixed chamber ensembles. In 2019, Mrs. Wilkens-Reed founded the Achelois Collective, a contemporary chamber ensemble dedicated to community engaged performance art and promoting works by queer, indigenous, female and underrepresented minority composers.
Anna holds a degree in Performance from the University of Memphis (B.M.) where she studied with Bruce Erskine. When Anna is not playing the flute, you can usually find her hiking, studying more holistic methods of performance preparation, watching food documentaries, on a zoom call, or in the gym. She currently resides in the St. Louis metro area with her husband, bassoonist Christopher Jackson and the true master of their household, Momo the Cat.