The Appalachian Symphony Orchestra
James Allen Anderson, Director of Orchestral Activities

 

The Appalachian Symphony Orchestra is a 100+ member performance ensemble comprised of undergraduate and graduate students from the distinguished Hayes School of Music as well as talented student musicians from across the campus and community. The ASO presents five to six concerts a year and performs literature from the standard orchestral repertoire spanning the baroque to the contemporary.  Recent performances have included masterpieces such as Brahms' Symphony No. 4, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, Saint Saëns' Symphony No. 3, Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2, Beethoven 5, as well as works from contemporary composers such as Libby Larsen, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, and Christopher Rouse.  Our world premiere performance of David Maslanka's Symphony No. 6: "Living Earth" was released in August of 2006 under the Albany Records label.  Click this link to view our upcoming season and to see programs from past years.  Featured performances can be heard across the state on public radio stations on programs such as "Carolina Live" and in the PBS special entitled "An Appalachian Showcase."  The orchestra rehearses on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:30 PM in room 119 of the Broyhill Music Center.  Please contact Mr. Anderson if you would like additional information at (828) 262-6445.

The Appalachian Chamber Orchestra

The Appalachian Chamber Orchestra is the Hayes School of Music's Student/Faculty ensemble. Modeled on a professional system of four to five blocked rehearsals, the ACO provides students with intensive ensemble experience. Faculty members hold the principal posts and model for the students the responsibilities expected of these positions.

Highlights of past seasons include the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin, Ginastera VariacionnesConcertantes, Atterberg Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, and Zwilich Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra to name a few.

The year 2006 marked the 250^th Anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Appalachian Chamber Orchestra was invited to perform in both festivals and prestigious workshops at Salzburg's Mozarteum and the Vienna Academy of Music in Austria and in the Czech Republic. For more information about the Appalachian Chamber Orchestra, contact Mr. Anderson at (828) 262-6445.

 

James Allen Anderson, Director

In the fall of 2002, James Allen Anderson became Director of Orchestral Activities at the distinguished Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University in Boone North Carolina. Mr. Anderson received his formal training as conductor and pianist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York. His principal conducting mentors have included David Effron, Mark Gibson, Tonu Kalam, Pierre Hetu and Otto Werner-Mueller, with studies in piano under Michael Zenge and Francis Whang.

Born in Okinawa, Japan , and raised in North Carolina, Mr. Anderson studied piano, and composition at an early age. His commitment to championing new music developed during his training at the University of North Carolina, where he was involved with premieres of student works through the New Music Ensemble. This enthusiasm continued while at Eastman, where he again premiered student works and also assisted in the preparation of new music by faculty composers, including Joseph Schwantner, Augusta Read Thomas, David Liptak and Robert Moore. In 1997, as part of Eastman's 75th anniversary, Mr. Anderson was selected to conduct the world premiere of the newly revised Overture in Praise of Folly by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker. This commitment to new music endures, with recent world premiere performances of works by David Maslanka (11:11 A Dance at the Edge of the World, Symphony No. 6 "Living Earth") and Daniel Bukvich (The Glittering Hill).

James Allen Anderson is similarly enthusiastic about staged operatic and Broadway productions. He has held positions with the Eastman Opera Theatre, Triangle Opera (NC), Theater on the Ridge (NY), Pauper Players (NC), and most recently with the University of Montana's Music Department and Missoula Children's Theatre in their fully staged performances of Die Fledermaus. He is in demand as a guest conductor and has served as Music Director of the Butte Symphony Association and Director of Orchestral Activities at the University of Montana. Mr. Anderson remains committed to a variety of outreach projects and is a frequent adjudicator and clinician on both the state and regional levels.

Mr. Anderson was honored to receive the 2005 Mariam Cannon Hayes School of Music Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2003, he accepted an invitation to participate in the American Symphony Orchestra Leagues' National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony (FL). This program showcased eight conductors that had been "carefully chosen for their talent, accomplishments, and qualifications, who are ready to assume important professional conducting responsibilities with American orchestras." In 2001, Mr. Anderson competed in the first Vakhtang Jordania/New Millennium International Conducting Competition in the Ukraine and was a Third-Round diploma laureate and major prize winner.

James Allen Anderson is an officer in the Conductors Guild (the largest service organization devoted exclusively to the art and craft of conducting), holding the position of Secretary and Chair of the Membership Committee. He currently lives in Fleetwood, NC with his wife Davina and their children, Hannah, Savannah and Samuel. If you would like more information about the orchestra program, please feel free to contact Prof. Anderson at (828) 262-6445 (office) or email him at andrsnja@appstate.edu.