T. J. Anderson

Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Anderson (born August 17, 1928) is an American composer, conductor, orchestrator and educator.[1]

Early Life

Born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Anderson has written over 80 works ranging from operas and symphonies to choral pieces, chamber music, and band music. He has composed commissioned works for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and cellist Yo Yo Ma.

Education

The beginning of his college education began at West Virginia State College. He then attended Pennsylvania State University and received his bachelors degree there in music. Afterwards at that very school in 1950 and 1951, he got his masters degree in music education. [2] He holds a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Iowa in 1958,[3] was composer in residence with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra from 1968 to 1971, and was Austin Fletcher Professor of Music Emeritus at Tufts University, a position from which he retired in 1990.[4]

Work and Musical Influence

TJ Anderson worked at Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma as a music professor. There, he became the chair of that music department. Not only did he teach music at Langston University, but also at Tennessee State University. There he was named composer-in-residence with the well known Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He had a three tenure with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. [5]

During the period of time he spent with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, TJ Anderson had orchestrated the Scott Joplin Opera. The piece was Treemonisha. In 1972, Joplin's work took full stage for the very first time. The first opera that he wrote was Soldier Boy. This piece of music was inspired and based upon a libretto by Leon Forrest, whom he was also good friends with. It was in fact commissioned by Indiana University.

In 1972, TJ Anderson was also hired as a professor and department chair to teach his musical ways at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

TJ Anderson's teachings were not limited to the universities that he worked at in the United States. He also taught at institutions in places such as France, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.

Awards and Honors

In 1983, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts and in 2005, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.[6]

Family

Anderson has three children: Janet, Anita, and Thomas J. Anderson, III (who also goes by "T.J."), is a poet and professor of English at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. The younger Anderson is married to Pauline Kaldas, a poet, author, and fellow English professor at Hollins University.

Notes

  1. ↑ Robin, William (August 8, 2014). "Great Divide at the Concert Hall: Black Composers Discuss the Role of Race". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/tj-anderson-42. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ University of Iowa: Alumni & Friends Reunion 2006.
  4. ↑ Emeritus Faculty - Tufts Department of Music.
  5. ↑ http://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/tj-anderson-42. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Bates College: Citation for Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Anderson

References

  • Perkins Holly, Ellistine. Biographies of Black Composers and Songwriters; A Supplementary Textbook. Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.


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