Anaïs St. John

About

Elegant and seductive, Anaïs St. John is a singer whose daunting stage presence sends sensual shivers up the spines of audiences in venues both intimate and grand. A native New Orleanian and daughter of jazz alto saxophonist Marion Brown, this Creole songstress is a seasoned performer deft at jazz, opera, and musical theater.

With a master's degree in vocal performance and years of experience as a music educator, Anaïs challenges her audience to sit up and take notice. Influenced by a wide variety of musical genres, Ms. St. John sets herself apart with a boundless hunger to use lyric, harmony, and vocal power to weave a spell around audiences.

Her operatic and theatrical training is evident as she sings and purrs through a myriad of moods and vocal styles. In keeping with a classic cabaret tradition, she sprinkles her tunes with a bit of naughty and a whole lot of spice.

As voracious as she is versatile, Anaïs continues to expand her musical repertoire. In 2004 and 2007, she attended the prestigious Cabaret Conference at Yale University. She received an invitation in 2009 to participate in the Sarteano Choral Conducting Workshop in Tuscany and in 2011 was awarded the Iona Richardson Award for Excellence in Teaching at Trinity Episcopal School in New Orleans. Anaïs traveled to Mexico City in 2017, as an invited soloist with the en México Gospel, Spirituals & Jazz #NOWALLS at Centro Nationale de las Artes.


Anaïs received a nomination for a Big Easy Award for her 2015 cabaret tribute, Last Dance: A Tribute to Donna Summer, and she was also nominated in 2005 for A Purrfect Evening… The Songs of Eartha Kitt.

She was recently named one of New Orleans Magazine's "Top Female Achievers," and “People to Watch.” She has also been honored by Gambit Weekly with its coveted L'Image award.

A longtime headliner at the Polo Lounge at the Windsor Court Hotel and Jazz Live at the Hyatt, Anaïs has graced the stages at some of New Orleans's most revered jazz clubs including Snug Harbor, D.B.A., and Le Chat Noir. As alluring on the big stage as in those intimate settings, she has been a staple at the annual French Quarter Festival as well as at Bayou Boogaloo and the steamy summer Satchmo Fest.

ANAïS, her first C.D., was released to critical acclaim in 2012. With 14 standards to showcase her talent, the collection combines St. John's skill and sensuality with an uncanny blend of lusty earthiness and elegant stylings. Terry McDermott, the runner-up on The Voice, described "her remarkable voice… cradled by luxury and as warm as a single malt."
Summers and holidays send Anaïs to festivals far and wide. Most recently, she made her way across the Atlantic to take her place among the women in jazz featured at Switzerland's Jazz Ascona. In December, she helped ring in a sultry New Year at the Umbria Winter Jazz Festival in Orvieto, Italy.
Lucky New Orleanians can travel in style with Anaïs back to the golden age of jazz and cabaret every Saturday at her “Porch Fests.”