Ann L. Vivian
Author, Musician, Speaker
Ann L. Vivian is the author of numerous publications, including her Master’s thesis on the organ design of G. Donald Harrison that appeared as the cover story of The Diapason, an international scholarly journal. Her articles and columns have appeared in Coffee & Cuisine, New England Bride Magazine, the newsletter of New England Specialty Foods, and the journal of the society of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. She also wrote internal documents for several major corporations, including Akamai Technologies, Aramark and Delta Dental.
As an organist, Ann appeared in several recitals and concerts at both Boston’s Church of the Advent on Beacon Hill, where she performed the Poulenc Concerto for Organ, Strings & Tympani, and at the famed Old North Church.
She also produced many concerts at Symphony Hall in Boston, with one featuring the late Metropolitan Opera baritone Dimitri Hvorostovsky, and also at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory. In addition, she was executive producer of the first audio CD recording of the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, entitled “Visions: Words for the Future”.
In the role of President and General Manager, Ann owned the catering company Culinary Classics with her late husband, David K. Hart. It was featured three times in Boston Magazine as well as other publications, including the book, The Compleat Caterer by Elizabeth Lawrence (Doubleday, 1992).
Ann has been a featured speaker at the national conference of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and regional conferences of the same, as well as the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. She also served as Visiting Lecturer in the culinary departments of Boston University and Southern New Hampshire University. “The Physics of the Pipe Organ” was her presentation at the national convention of the National Association of Teachers of Mathematics and Physics in Boston.
She also appeared often on Boston radio and television. While consulting at a winery, Ann produced a local radio program “Living on the South Coast, with Ann Vivian” for which she interviewed, among others, the chef Lidia Bastianich.
Ann has served as executive, consultant, or board member to many non-profit organizations including Chorus America, the Handel & Haydn Society, the New England Women’s Fund, the Alfred Nash Paterson Foundation, New England Conservatory, The Boston Conservatory, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, the Russian Chamber Chorus, the Home for Little Wanderers, New England Specialty Foods, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, The Human Rights Fund and Wainwright Bank.
Ann currently lives in Madison, Wisconsin near her son’s family. She enjoys reading a myriad of topics, watching a range of programs from documentaries to period dramas, and listening to classical music. She is currently writing her first book, Visions, Visitations and The Voice: My Intimate Journey with the Sacred.