The Swedish soprano Anna Maria Friman has recently completed her PhD at the University of York (UK), where she was reseaching the modern performance of medieval music by women. Between 2002-2007 she was teaching singing and coaching vocal ensembles at the University. Anna now lives part time in Sweden and Norway.

Anna's solo engagements include performances with Gavin Bryars Ensemble, Red Byrd, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang, The Ciconia Ensemble, NYYD Ensemble (Estonia), Latvian Radio Choir, Stuttgart Bach Choir, Det Norske Solistkor, The Girl Choristers of Washington National Cathedral, Collegium Vocale Gent and Ricercar Consort directed by Philippe Pierlot.

Anna is a member of the Scandinavian vocal ensemble Trio Mediæval that specializes in medieval music from England, France and Italy, contemporary works and Norwegian traditional songs and ballads. The trio has released 4 CDs on ECM Records. 'Words of the Angel', (2002) 'Soir dit-elle' (2004), 'Stella Maris' (2005) and 'Folk Songs' (2007). All immediately went to The Billboard Top 10 Bestsellers list. In 2009 Folk Songs record was nominated for a Grammy award in the category "Best Chamber Music Performance".

"Singing doesn't get more unnervingly beautiful than the exquisite display mounted in Herbst Theatre on Thursday night by Trio Mediaeval. With its cool, unerringly precise blend of voices, the group made a local debut that has to count among the musical highlights of the year." - San Fransisco Chronicle

The trio has performed in venues such as New York's Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall, Washington DC's Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wigmore Hall, Canterbury Cathedral, the Vienna Konserthaus, the Oslo Concert House, Antwerp’s deSingel , Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw, Girona Cathedral, Gothenburg Domkirke and Turku Cathedral. In November 2005 the trio mediaeval performed four shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York together with the German musikFabrik in 'Shelter'; a Contemporary Oratorio with projections, with music by the American composer-trio Bang on a Can (Julia Wolfe, David Lang and Michael Gordon). The work had its European premier in Cologne and Essen in Germany last year and was recently performed in Amsterdam, Antwerp and St. Pölten. In June 2006 the trio performed with Tord Gustavsen Trio in a world premiere collaboration concert in Harstad, at the Festspillene i Nord-Norge. Tord composed the music; ‘musical miniatures’ with lyrics by the Sufi poet Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273). This summer the two trios have met again, during the Festspillene in Bergen, where the trio medieval was the ‘Artist in Residence’ for two weeks, and later at the Festspillene i Elverum.

Anna has performed at Balejazz and at Dalsfjord uka in a duo format with the Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen. This format has extended to include the trio mediaeval, sometimes with the addition of Ståle Storlokken and Jan Bang. This sextett last performed at the Molde Jazzfestival 2009, where Henriksen was the artist in recidence.

Anna has a BA in solo performance from the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, Norway, where she studied with Thorbjørn Lindhjem. She continued her postgraduate studies at Trinity College of Music in London with Linda Hirst and Barbara Bonney.

In 2007 Anna performed in the Sonnets Project 'Nothing like the sun' (collaboration between RSC and Opera North). The project had its premier at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon-Avon in February and has since then toured in the UK and Belgium.