Artistic Staff

J.D. Anderson, Conductor, American Youth Concert Orchestra

The 2007-2008 season marks J. D. Anderson's sixth season with the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras. A native of Vienna, Virginia, Mr. Anderson is a product of the Fairfax County Public Schools where he attended Thoreau Middle School and graduated from James Madison High School. He received a B.A. in Music Education from the University of Illinois, and an M.A. in Educational Administration from Virginia Tech. While at Illinois, Mr. Anderson was a member of the University's Symphonic Band and Symphony Orchestra. He also studied trombone with Dr. Robert Gray, and conducted with Thomas Wisniewski, James Keene, and Daniel Kohut.

Mr. Anderson began teaching instrumental music in grades 5-12 in Champaign, Illinois, where he also served as orchestra conductor for the Champaign-Urbana Theater Company. Mr. Anderson returned to Virginia and served for 10 years as music department chairman at Longfellow Middle School. There, Mr. Anderson was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the music program, which consisted of four music teachers and an enrollment of more than 550 students participating in one of four bands, three orchestras, and three concert choirs.

At Longfellow, Mr. Anderson built a band program that became recognized as one of the finest in the United States. During his tenure, the symphonic band received superior ratings at every contest and festival in which it has participated and was invited to perform at the Kennedy Center, the Virginia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference, and at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference. Recognizing the lasting success of the symphonic band, the John Philip Sousa Foundation presented Longfellow Middle School with the Sudler Silver Cup in 2000. The Sudler Cup, recognized as the highest honor that a middle school can receive, is presented to programs which have "demonstrated particularly significant high standards of excellence in concert activities over a period of several years". Since the Sousa Foundation began presenting the Cup in 1984, twenty-nine middle schools from throughout the United States have been recognized in this way.

Mr. Anderson is active in numerous professional organizations and is regularly in demand to present clinic sessions, guest conduct, and adjudicate at music education conferences and festivals. He has served on the Board of Directors for the National Band Association (NBA), the National Advisory Board for the Midwest International Band and Orchestra clinic, and on the Fairfax Symphony Education Committee. Mr. Anderson has received numerous awards for his work including the NBA's "Citation of Excellence", Who's Who among American Teachers, Al and Winnie Hodgson Excellence in Teaching Award, and has twice been named a finalist for the Fairfax County Public Schools/Washington Post Teacher of the Year Award. Mr. Anderson was also named national co-winner of the ASBDA/UMI Distinguished Band Director Award and has been presented with the Diploma of the Sudler Order of Merit from the John Philip Sousa Foundation.