James Anderson
AvailableTuesday-WednesdayJames Anderson
Guitar, Electric Bass, Ukulele, Piano, and Voice Instructor
James is a Pacific Northwest composer and a guitarist. At the age of six, he started to learn how to read musical notation and play the guitar privately until he started studying under local guitarist Jerry Hahn and Michael McCabe. He eventually created his own rock band and started performing in venues in Vancouver such as Esther Short Park and the Portland metro area. In grade school, he became an active member in the music community as a guitarist in the high school jazz band, marching band, theater and percussion ensemble, by shredding guitar solos with the marching band in the Portland Rose Festival as well as performing classical guitar and sitar in State Solo & Ensemble competition, which eventually won a performance spot in the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.
Upon graduating from high school in Vancouver, Washington, he went on to earn his Bachelor’s degree by studying composition and classical/jazz guitar at Western Washington University. He then went on to receive his Master’s degree in Music Composition at the University of Michigan, studying with Michael Daugherty and Evan Chambers.
Recently, James had premiered his latest orchestra work “Places with Pillars” with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Robertson (maestro with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra symphony orchestra) as well as guided by composer Steven Mackey at Princeton University. Some of his other national performances include the Midwest Composers Symposium, Jack Quartet, Electroacoustic Interexchange in Seattle, West Point Band in New York City, Electroacoustic Music Festival at Louisiana State University and Northwest Guitar Festival. He also performs nationally, premiering new classical compositions with classical/electric guitar by emerging composers.
James has been a private music instructor since 2010. His focus is primarily beginning to advanced level guitar and songwriting, specializing in classical, jazz, rock, folk, blues and electronic. He helps his students understand the basics of music theory and aural skills so that they can apply that knowledge towards writing their own songs, improvisation, sight reading, and learning a song by ear. His goal is to help encourage students to be able to feel comfortable with performing their favorite songs in auditions, juries, recitals, talent shows, music ensembles, and concerts. Students are also able to learn how to master their own recordings or compositions with a DAW program for a video game or movie or learn how to compose a piece with notation for a particular instrument.
