BPR is pleased to introduce our newest on-air talent: Anastasia Marie, who joined our roster of hosts and can be heard guiding listeners through Fresh Air and All Things Considered several days a week.
Anastasia brings a wealth of expertise across disciplines to her role at BPR. She has studied numerous voice training techniques, and founded Being Vocal Freedom, where she offers workshops and lessons to help people with singing, speaking and emotional wellness. Anastasia specializes in Somatic movement education and is pursuing certification in the Alexander Technique.
Anastasia is also an accomplished violist, performing with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Philharmonic, Western Piedmont Symphony, the Asheville Jazz Orchestra, and others. She performed as a jazz singer in venues across the country, and has been a featured musician at The Moth Radio Hour’s Asheville Storytelling Slam. In addition to performing, Anastasia is a K-12 music instructor and teacher, working with Asheville Music School, Carolina Day School, Girls Rock Asheville and others.
“Being a musician taught me how to perform and work with material that is auditory in nature. Voice coaching further enriches my abilities to perform and communicate. Having those backgrounds, I think, flattened what could have been a steep learning curve at BPR,” said Anastasia.
Anastasia began training in December 2021, and made her on-air debut in February.
“Anastasia impressed us from the very beginning,” said BPR’s Director of Content Catherine Komp. “Her precision as a musician, along with her background in vocal training and wellness coaching, are a perfect fit for public media hosting. She quickly learned the technical side of things, and within days of her debut – we began to hear from community members praising her warmth, clarity and connection with listeners.”
A longtime listener of NPR, Anastasia says public media opened her to the world of podcast storytelling – where she sees potential for the medium to facilitate healing.
“While media is not typically healthful and often baits us into the attention economy profiteering from our emotional distress and fragmented attention, radio storytelling can be more than the media programming a local station runs,” said Anastasia. “We can be about helping people heal through public storytelling.”
Anastasia also has a passion for nature, and earned a B.S. in Natural Resources Conservation from the University of Vermont. She recommends the Yale podcast series When We Talk About Animals.