Anna Atkinson is a singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and educator originally from Windsor, Ontario. She studied the viola at the University of Victoria, and then spent nine years immersed in Toronto’s creative music and theatre communities before moving to Montreal, where she now lives.
Anna performs her own music under the name Linaire. The project’s self-titled debut album was released in October 2020. Using uncluttered electronic beats, ethereal synths, incandescent strings and poetically lucid lyrics, Linaire explores complex emotions, anxiety, ancestry and embodiment. Anna’s goal is to help listeners to feel both curious and safe while inhabiting these emotional spaces. She also has two albums released under her own name: Sky Stacked Full (2016) and Mooniture (2011).
Anna has contributed both as creator and performer to numerous projects across music, theatre, film and dance. She was part of Victoria-based duo Blue Richard and the Apricots and Toronto songwriting collective Words Around the Waist, and has performed in productions at The Theatre Centre, Soulpepper and The Stratford Festival. She has composed music for productions at Tangente, The Centaur and Toronto Fringe.
Anna is currently strengthening the bond between her physical and creative practices, weaving her extensive experience as a performer, physical practices over two decades ranging from Olympic weightlifting and kettlebell to Feldenkrais and yoga, research on the nervous system, and her own experience with anxiety and disembodiment into much of her art making, collaborations and teaching. Having recently completed her personal trainer’s certification, she is working to bring strength and mobility practices to her community with her new business HEAVYTIME. She is also in the midst of creating a new set of songs for Linaire.
