Cellist Anne Francis Bayless has combined her “light, fleet touch” (Charlotte Observer) and “searing cello” (Deseret Morning News) in performances since her debut at age 10 on the international stage of the Inaugural World Cello Congress. Winner of the Darius Milhaud Performance Prize and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, Anne has performed in venues from Carnegie Hall in New York to a Maori Longhouse in New Zealand, firmly establishing herself as a leading educator and artist of her generation.
A strong advocate of National Public Radio, Anne can be heard frequently in the eclectic recordings of “The NPR Cellos.” Anne has strived to connect with composers of our time since her days as a conservatory student, commissioning a sonata for solo cello from composer Ryan Beard and working with leading composers Donald Erb, Bernard Rands, and Ned Rorem.
Anne began playing the cello when she was four years old and later became one of the youngest members of the Kalamazoo Symphony, performing in the cello section while still in high school. Anne received her Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she was assistant to Paul Katz. Her principal teachers have included Richard Aaron, Alan Harris, Bonnie Hampton, and Bruce Uchimura, and her major chamber music mentors include the Cleveland, Emerson, Juilliard, and Orion string quartets.
Anne currently teaches on the faculty of the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University, residing in Logan, Utah, with her two cats, Lilly and Chaussettes. In her spare time, she enjoys supporting the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, running, hiking, gardening, and exploring the nuances of cooking. Anne performs on a Carl Becker Sr. cello dated 1926 and a bow by A. Vigneron, Paris.
