Meet Anna

Anna Darmanska is an Atlanta-based flutist who has spent two decades on stages in more than twenty countries. She plays flute, Irish flute, and whistles for weddings, private celebrations, and corporate events.

Anna earned a Master’s degree in Flute Performance, then spent years touring from Nepal and China to Norway and Spain. She is a laureate of several Ukrainian and International wind instrument competitions, including the First International Competition of the Playing on Wind Instruments in Poland in 2014.

Born in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, she began her first paid work at fifteen, in the city’s wind band and the folk orchestra. In her final year of high school, Anna went to see Swan Lake at the Kyiv Opera House. Halfway through the ballet, she caught herself focusing on every flute note rather than watching the dancers. Tears were running down her cheeks. She realized she couldn’t put the flute on a shelf and become anything other than a musician.

For the years that followed, Anna couldn’t put down her flute, practicing as much as she could. And she also found Celtic music, or rather it was Celtic music that found her. She took up Irish dancing after seeing Michael Flatley’s show, started playing Celtic music, and joined a touring band. After moving to the United States in 2019, Anna saw her favourite band, Lúnasa. She connected with the band’s flutist Kevin Crawford and studied Irish flute with him.

These days Anna performs with Bella Isakova, The BorderCollies, and teaches at CMC Atlanta as well as at her private studio. She collaborates with musicians from other states and performs at Celtic festivals in the Southeast.