Ana Silvera

In 2021, Silvera was commissioned to compose a score of re-arranged folk and original music for the theatre adaptation of The Times best-selling book of the same name by Ben Myers. The recordings featured violinist Aidan O'Rourke and concertina player Rob Harbron. The show premiered in October 2021 at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough before being transferred to Newcastle Live.

"Gift" is a three-song release of songs composed or arranged on harmonium. The EP features a re-recorded version of 'Exile', a song commissioned by BBC Radio 3's The Verb in 2020. This song is inspired by Iranian-American poet Sholeh Wolpé's work, 'The World Grows Blackthorn Walls'. "Gift" was released on Mirabeau Recordings, Silvera's own imprint.

In February 2020, Silvera was asked to compose a song for BBC Radio 3's spoken word show, The Verb, inspired by the new anthology "The Heart of A Stranger" edited by poet André Nafis-Sahely. She performed the song, "Exile" - whose opening line was inspired by Iranian poet Sholeh Wolpé's 'The World Grows Blackthorn Walls' and also joined the roundtable discussion about the idea of 'exile' alongside presenter Ian McMillan and poets André Nafis-Sahely, Mina Gorji, John McAuliffe and Igor Klikovac. 'Exile' was subsequently selected for play on BBC Radio 4's Pick of the Week.

Silvera's recordings have, as of 2018, been added to the Sound Archive at the British Library.

In 2018, Silvera collaborated again with dramaturge Christine Bacon on her new work, "What Do I Know?", a new performance piece by ice&fire human rights theatre company looking at the effects of the current war in Yemen, taking inspiration from the poetry of Amina Atiq and the reflections and realities of Khaled Ahmed, a young, self-taught English teacher living in Yemen. Silvera created soundscapes and music for the piece. It premiered at Liverpool Arab Arts Festival in the Music Room, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic on 8 July 2018.

In 2017, Silvera released a collection of original and traditional winter songs featuring Danish musicians Jasper Høiby (bass), Bjarke Falgren (strings), Jacob Smedegaard (drums), Signe Trylle (vox) and British musician Adrian Lever (Bulgarian tambura). It is available as a digital download and 500 limited edition CDs were also released. The EP was released on Mirabeau Recordings, Silvera's own imprint.

Silvera was commissioned to compose a new work for herself, qanun player Maya Youssef and cellist/vocalist Laura Moody, to be recorded at the BBC's Maida Vale Studios.The resulting piece was entitled 'Greenwich Pier'. She also performed on Youssef's composition, 'Syrian Dreams' and Moody's composition, 'Dark Days'. All three songs were broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction with Max Reinhardt. in 2016, 'Greenwich Pier' was selected by curator Nick Luscombe to be included on a compilation of the best of Late Junction sessions. In a review of the release, Richard Foster of The Quietus wrote: "[Ana Silvera's] 'Greenwich Pier' [is] a wonderful piece of modern folk... its deftness and surety of touch means it’s damned pleasing".

In 2016, Silvera was invited by BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Sheila Hayman to work with six members of the Write to Life group that is part of the UK-wide Freedom from Torture organisation. The mission was to work with the group, alongside dramaturge Christine Bacon to create a musical and spoken word piece about the experiences of the group members, all of whom were torture survivors from different countries including Burundi, Uganda and Iran. Over a period of months, Silvera and the group devised sketches of lyrics and tunes for the show, sometimes drawing on traditional music from their homelands, but most of the time creating original songs which related to different aspects of their past and present lives. Silvera then worked this into a fully composed 35 minute piece entitled "Lost and Found", which the group performed at the Roundhouse Studio Theatre on 2 September 2016. The piece was reprised in 2017 as part of Refugee Week and performed in at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

In 2015, Silvera recorded her seven part song-cycle in a series of live recordings over three nights. The performance featuring noted musicians such as pianist Bill Laurance (of Snarky Puppy) double bassist Jasper Høiby of Phronesis and singer/composer Josephine Stephenson. The song cycle was recorded at Roundhouse Studio Theatre and was released as vinyl, CD and digital download in July 2018 on Gearbox Records. The release was listed on The Guardian Critics Pick List (selected by journalist Charlotte Richardson Andrews) the same year, and was praised by writer Alex Preston on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Review as being "some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard...intelligent, lyrically complex and interesting".

Silvera was commissioned in 2013 by the Royal Opera House to create, compose and perform in a new work for Royal Ballet alongside choreographer Ludovic Ondiviela and film maker Kate Church, entitled "Cassandra". It premiered on 30 October 2014 at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House and starred soloist Olivia Cowley as the main character, replacing principal ballerina Lauren Cuthbertson who was injured shortly before the show. It was described as "a haunting and ethereal theatrical experience depicted with beautiful sensitivity the onset of psychotic illness in a young woman" by The BMJ and The Arts Desk wrote: "its through-composed score by Ana Silvera, who also takes a performing role as a singer is attractively varied, constantly engaging". Silvera also spoke about her own direct experiences with the psychiatric system in a Royal Opera House podcast entitled "Can the arts help people better understand mental illness?" alongside psychiatrist Dr Mark Salter.

To date, as a solo artist Silvera has released two studio albums, "The Aviary" (2012), "The Fabulist" (2022) and a live album, "Oracles" (2018), which was listed on The Guardian Critics Pick List, and three EPs: "Arcana - A Winter EP" (2017), "Light, Console Me" (2020), which features Gambian kora player Sefo Kanuteh, and "Gift" (2021).

Ana Silvera's debut album, The Aviary, was in March 2012.The Aviary was produced by Ray Singer (Peter Sarstedt) and Brad Albetta (Martha Wainwright, Teddy Thompson) and violinist/arranger Maxim Moston (Antony & the Johnsons, Rufus Wainwright). The album was well-received: Arwa Haider of METRO wrote, "there's both a lavish, vivid imagination and an intense intimacy at play in the music of Ana Silvera... altogether these are haunting, grown-up fairytales" and The Word described The Aviary as a collection of "dark and delicious torchsongs" and featured track 10, 'Coronation Dance' on their covermount CD. The Aviary was released as a CD and digital download on KMC Records.