Anna Maria was trained in singing by her elder sisters Marianne (177?–1847) and Imperatrice (1784–1808) and made her stage debut at the Imperial Court Theater in Vienna in 1805.

[1][2] During the early years of her career, Sessi sang in Italy, mainly in Bologna, Florence, and Naples, often appearing with her sister Imperatrice.

In 1813, she married the Austrian businessman Ignaz Neumann, after which she performed as Anna Maria Neumann-Sessi.

Other roles for which she was particularly known during her career included Julia in Spontini's La vestale, Amenaide in Rossini's Tancredi, Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni and the Countess in his Marriage of Figaro.

For a time after her retirement, she taught singing in Hamburg and then returned to Vienna, where she spent her later years.