Ann Kosakowski McNamee retired as Professor Emerita of Music Theory at Swarthmore College in order to pursue a new career as a songwriter and performer. Over 250 songs, ten albums, and 750 live shows later, she re-retired, in order to collaborate on musical theater projects.

Ann’s portfolio of songs offers a fresh perspective on relationships and the ever-changing world. Her Wellesley College B.A. and Yale Ph.D. in Music Theory demonstrate that she knows about the rules she’s breaking. Ann composed for and sang with the Flying Other Brothers band from 1999 to 2006. She then composed for, sang, played keys, and toured until 2012 with the popular San Francisco band Moonalice, led by her husband Roger McNamee.

Currently, Ann is a producer, co-composer, and co-lyricist on a musical theater project entitled OTHER WORLD. Her co-composer/co-lyricist is Jeff Bowen, bookwriter Hunter Bell, director Adrienne Campbell-Holt, and choreographer Karla Puno Garcia. Honored to be working with Academy-Award-winning WETA Workshop of Wellington, NZ (Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Hobbit, etc.) as Creative Consultant, Ann is thrilled to announce that a world premiere of OTHER WORLD is scheduled for March 13th – April 11th, 2020 at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA with Robyn Goodman, Alex Fraser, and Josh Fiedler as Producers.

Some highlights along the way:

• participating in the Lilith Fair tour (2010) with Ann Atomic, a band formed for this tour (Eric McFadden, Jon Evans, Curt Bisquera, Roger Love, and Mookie Siegel)
• recording 103 original (often co-written) songs over the span of 13 years, with such extraordinarily generous musicians as Bono, T Bone Burnett, Eric McFadden, Jon Evans, Julie Wolf, Curt Bisquera, Roger Love, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, Melvin Seals, Stacy Parrish, and G. E. Smith, with Ann Atomic, the Flying Other Brothers, and Moonalice
• playing at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass for eight years, once with Warren Hellman himself, and at Bonnaroo, Summer Camp, Oregon Country Fair, Gathering of the Vibes, and the Summer of Love Anniversary
• warming up for U2 at the Oakland Coliseum and performing for the SF Giants at AT&T Park for Jerry Day with Moonalice (Roger McNamee, John Molo, Pete Sears, and Barry Sless)
• co-writing “It’s 4:20 Somewhere,” a song recognized by the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame for 2.4 million downloads, and co-writing “Fifteen Cadillacs,” used during the pre-game show for the 2012 Super Bowl
• most importantly, all the free concerts and benefits, often with Moonalice Poster Art Trees displaying the over-1,000 commissioned posters of artists from around the country (Union Square, Delancey Street, NCEFT, the 4:20 shows, and many, many more)
• co-writing music and lyrics with Roger Love on the musical, LOVE BYTES (book by Carl Ritchie, with Elise Dewsberry as dramaturge), and co-creating OTHER WORLD with Hunter Bell, Roger Love, and Gabriel Barre
• co-founding, with Roger McNamee, the Haight Street Arts Center (a gallery and print shop which supports a collective of rock poster artists), named “Best Art Gallery” in 48 Hills & San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay 2019