Anna Lackaff (luh-kAff)

is a music director and conductor,  

voice instructor and singer,  

composer and arranger, 

and pianist and accompanist,

serving regional, Off-Broadway, and educational musical theatre 

- as well as other music and performance venues - 

nationwide. 

As keyboardist and band member of Mannheim Steamroller since 2015,

she has performed in 48 states.

2024 TOUR SCHEDULE

Since 2005, her original score for Rick Lombardo's A Christmas Carol,

which intertwines new compositions with 28 traditional melodies,

has been performed more than 500 times,

acclaimed by the Boston Globe, Boston Phoenix, Broadway World, 

San Jose Mercury News, EDGE, and Portland Monthly, among others.

Its run includes many years at San Jose Repertory Theatre and New Repertory Theatre, 

and every year since 2013 at Portland Playhouse.

She co-composed and arranged additional songs 

for the 2014 Off-Broadway run (and beyond) 

of Thank You For Being a Friend.

In addition to theatre music, Anna's compositions and arrangements

include art songs; pop music; music for video shorts and public television;

and choral music, including her Ave Maria sung by The Western Wind.

She has been music director, conductor, and pianist for

productions at theatres nationwide, including New Repertory Theatre, 

San Jose Repertory Theatre,

Boston Center for the Arts,

Encore Theatre,

Performance Network Theatre,

and Des Moines Playhouse.

She is both an improvisational and sight-reading pianist,

having spent over 20 years accompanying

musical theatre auditions, improv, live karaoke, and cabaret

in New York City, Boston, and across the country.

Anna was previously adjunct music faculty and pianist at Drake University; 

musical theatre voice faculty and dance pianist at

Minnesota State University Mankato, Department of Theatre and Dance;

resident music director, piano-conductor, and voice instructor of

Walnut Hill School for the Arts Theatre Academy, Massachusetts;

and resident music director and piano-conductor of Carousel Music Theatre, Maine.

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Also a visual artist,

Anna illustrated Pieces: Embroidered by Memory, 

a memoir by Virginia James Tufte,

with more than 60 ink drawings (Graphics Press 2013).

Her artwork was featured on the cover of the

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association

(JAMVA) in 2017.

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Born in 1981,

Anna is a fifth-generation member of a 

Nebraska Sandhills cattle-ranching family,

where she attended a one-room country school

and took her first - and only, ever - piano lessons 

while growing up on the ranch.

She studied classical voice performance 

at Nebraska Wesleyan University,

graduating with high distinction in 2003.

Since then, Anna has lived in 

New York City, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan,  

Ohio, Minnesota, and currently Iowa, 

where she lives with her husband,  

physicist and author Dr. Aaron Santos.