A rare combination of technical command, creative individuality, and expressive depth.
— Simin Tander, ECM recording artist & jazz vocalist
Anna Girsberger is an award-winning 25-year-old Swiss singer, composer, and jazz pianist born in Lucerne. In 2025, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Jazz Piano at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Jazz Vocals & Songwriting at both the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Having rapidly emerged as a distinctive voice on the European contemporary music landscape, she debuted her solo EP State of Mind in September 2025 under the name Anna Rey via Red Brick Records. The project gained widespread critical acclaim, with national broadcaster SRF drawing stylistic comparisons to artists such as Fiona Apple and Sophie Hunger, and earned the GDS Award for Best EP 2025.
Bridging jazz and contemporary songwriting, Girsberger works with a curated group of musicians. Recent highlights include collaborations with London-based guitarist Rob Luft and Swiss pianist Luzius Schuler, live piano work for To Athena, and appearances on stages such as the EFG London Jazz Festival and Haldern Pop Festival.
I met Anna Girsberger in mid-2025 as a result of a commission from the Jazz Chur organisation in Switzerland. I was immediately struck by her mature musicality during the collaboration and impressed by her skills both as a vocalist and as an adept jazz pianist.
— Rob Luft, Edition Records & ECM recording guitarist
Parallel to her solo work, Girsberger co-founded the trio personne with Paul Studer and Basil Schreyer. Their debut EP, attention economy, arrived in March 2026 via Two Gentlemen and Irascible Music. Driven by sharp songwriting and social commentary, the group earned a nomination at the m4music Demotape Clinic and has showcased at Zurich's Schiffbau, ZDF Morgenmagazin, and Radioeins Berlin.
A fascinatingly dense and elegantly syncopated weave of sound dominated by piano and voice.
— Swiss Music Export (CH)
You can tell from the very first note that these three have found each other. (...) The name personne is one to remember.
— Berner Zeitung (CH)
Beyond her performance career, Girsberger is an accomplished freelance writer and cultural journalist, contributing essayistic and philosophical texts for album releases on labels such as UNIT Records.
Testimonials
A remarkably versatile talent.
— Michael Arbenz, pianist & co-founder of VEIN
A unique singer-songwriter.
— Kristin Berardi, Montreux Jazz Competition winner & Educator
You’ll be hearing a lot more from her in the future.
— Helvetica Podcast