Anna Betka is a dynamic pianist, vocal and opera coach, and one of few Czech diction specialists in North America who is a native speaker of the language. In North America, Dr. Betka has performed in diverse venues such as Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall and Heliconian Hall, Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in New York, and the National Sawdust in Brooklyn. Dr. Betka has also performed in Germany, France, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and the UK.

Dr. Betka’s work as a Czech diction specialist has taken her to Prague, Pardubice, and Brno in the Czech Republic, where she worked at Prague Castle and the Lobkowicz Palace, gave master classes at the Conservatory, and studied at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Czech musicians she has worked with include Jan Jiraský, Jiří Skovajsa, Ivan Klánský, Antonín Kubálek, and Alena Vlasáková. At the International Smetana Piano Competition, she was awarded an Honorary Mention for her exceptional interpretation of Bedřich Smetana’s Czech Dances. As an extension of her expertise in this area, she is researching and compiling an anthology of Czech vocal music by women composers; this initiative has been graciously and generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.

As a chamber musician, Dr. Betka has premiered and recorded many contemporary works at venues in New York, Indiana, Colorado, and Alberta, and her performances have been broadcast on the nationally syndicated WFMT Radio Network and on WKCR in New York. Her playing is featured on composer Mark Applebaum’s album Speed Dating (Innova Recordings). At the Banff Centre for the Arts, she gave the Canadian premiere of American composer Elliot Carter’s last work, Epigrams. A founding member of Trio Mondial, she was a quarterfinalist with the ensemble at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Over the years, Dr. Betka has had the privilege of collaborating with many living composers, such as Anthony Korf and Kamala Sankaram.

Dr. Betka is a graduate of the University of Toronto, State University of New York Stony Brook, Banff Centre for the Arts, Aspen Music Festival and School, Icicle Creek Center for the Arts, Chetham’s School of Music, Académie Internationale d’Éte de Nice, the Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival, the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Goethe Institut. She studied with Grammy Award-winning pianist Gilbert Kalish in New York as well as renowned pianists Christina Dahl and Boris Lysenko. She has played for distinguished pianists such as Angela Hewitt, Yonty Solomon, Peter Donohoe, John Perry, James Anagnoson, Arnaldo Cohen, Robert McDonald, Vladimir Tropp, and Matti Raekallio. Notable conductors she has worked with include Joseph Colaneri, John DeMain, and Helmuth Rilling. Dr. Betka also has a background in singing and holds an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto Diploma in Singing from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

As a teaching artist, Dr. Betka has taught at Adelphi University, SUNY Stony Brook, and Stony Brook University’s Pre-College Program, where she served on audition panels, coached chamber music, taught class piano for music majors, and was heavily involved in the opera program. She was Music Director at St. James Episcopal Church, where she led the Choir through a successful season of online rehearsals and services via Zoom during the pandemic. Other independent projects she was involved in during COVID include Parea Series’ The Telephone by Gian Carlo Menotti, which received a glowing review on Broadway World, and Quarantine Opera's production of the Toreador Song from Bizet’s Carmen, which was supported by UNESCO’s Norwegian Culture Fund.            

At the Glimmerglass Festival, where Dr. Betka is on Music Staff as Principal Coach and Youth Chorus Director, she has helped prepare three world premieres, including Blue, Tenor Overboard, and The Jungle Book. In September 2022 she joined the Canadian Opera Company for Bizet's Carmen and is currently Associate Principal Coach with the Palm Beach Opera.