Rod Anderson (as a late-beginner composer)

Curriculum Vitae

'SwallowHill', 1940 Hill 60 Rd., R.R.5,
Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
K9A 4J8
tel: (905) 372-2410
fax: (905) 372-6274
e-mail: rod@rodmer.com

Non-musical data

Musical 'groupie' activities

Extra-curricular activities

Non-musical data

Background

Born Toronto, Canada, 1935
Lived in Toronto for 55 years
Now lives in Cobourg with his artist wife, Merike Lugus
Has son and daughter (both married) and five grandsons

Education

BA (Chemistry) University of Toronto, 1956
CA (Ontario Gold Medal), 1959; FCA, 1969

Past Professional Life

Chartered Accountant with Clarkson, Gordon & Co. (now Ernst & Young) 1956-1983
Managing Partner of the firm's Toronto Office 1979-1982
Author of various arcane textbooks on auditing, sampling, etc.

Writing Life

Left the professional world in 1983 to spend full time writing poetry, short stories, opera librettit, reviews, etc.
Sky Falling Sunny Tomorrow (book of poetry) published in 1989 by Wolsak & Wynn (Toronto)
Wrote the libretto for Dulcitius , performed by the Canadian Opera Company ensemble in 1988 (composed by Peter Paul Koprowski)
Wrote the libretto for Mario and the Magician , (adaptation of Thomas Mann's novella) performed by the Canadian Opera Company in 1992 (composed by Harry Somers)
Member of the League of Canadian Poets
Past chairman of the Internet Committee of the League of Canadian Poets

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Musical 'groupie' activities

Canadian Opera Company

President (1969 and 1977) -- and at other times Treasurer, Subscription Campaign Chairman, Chairman of the Search Committee (which hired Lotfi Mansouri) -- board member (1962 - 1980)
Wrote two opera libretti (Dulcitius and Mario and the Magician (see above)

Opera America

Panelist on the LWRD/OFANA [Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Opera for a New America] panel (1995)

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada

Director General (1997 to 1999)-- and at other times Treasurer, Vice Director General -- board member (1969 - 2004)

Northumberland Orchestra Society

Chairman, Finance and Operating Committee -- 1997
Board member -- 1998-1999
Artistic Adviser and Master of Ceremonies for the NOS Cobourg Celebration Concert (1998)

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Musical education

Very slight

12 years of piano lessons (to the end of high school) -- not very advanced
3 years in a school choir
A few months of harmony lessons (in the 1960s)
Played recorder in a small amateur group (in the 1960s)
One-semester course (over the Internet) on 'MIDI Composition Techniques' by the University of Massachusetts (over the Internet) -- Robert Train Adams -- 1995

Mainly self-taught

Years of improvising on the piano
Composed some 14 or so piano rags (in the 1970s) (comic relief from the business world)
At the beginning of 1994 purchased two synthesizers (later added a third), and sequencing and notation software, and began composing for various small groupings of instruments

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Compositions to date

see list in music section

Performances to date

Date	Location	Nature of concert	Pieces performed	Performers
Oct/95	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Minor Suite Wood Thrush Beaver Rag Marionette Rag	guitar: Jeff McFadden flute: George Lee piano: Rod Anderson
Nov/95	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Minor Suite Wood Thrush Beaver Rag Marionette Rag	guitar: Jeff McFadden flute: George Lee piano: Rod Anderson
Jul/96	Proctor House Museum, Brighton	fundraising concert for Northumberland Orchestra	For Barbara	cello: Janko Marjanovic piano: Rod Anderson
Aug/96	Trinity United Church, Cobourg	Northumberland Orchestra concert	Sonata for Organ and Brass	organ: Ian Morton trumpet: Bob Reid trumpet:Neil Hunter trombone: Don Dawson tuba: Ron Parker timpani: Keith Stahley
Sep/96	Pickering Museum Village, Pickering	local concert	Still Winter Moon	oboe: Gregory Ward violin: Laurie Mitchell piano: Gillian Barfoot soprano: Anna Luckai
Feb/98	Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg	Mini-concert	Minor Suite Wood Thrush Keeping On For Ellen	flute: Fred Cory guitar: Ed Hoad piano: Rod Anderson
Apr/98	Bamboo Club, Toronto	Program for watershedBooks book launch	Minor Suite Wood Thrush Keeping On For Ellen For Barbara	flute: Fred Cory guitar: Ed Hoad piano: Rod Anderson cello: Janko Marjanovic
Jun/98	Java Man, Cobourg	Accompaniment to Merike Lugus writings	The White Cloud some other pieces	piano: Rod Anderson
Sep/98	Java Man, Cobourg	As part of a reading 'The Many Deaths of the Universe'	Old Pagoda	narration: Rod Anderson
Oct/98	Trinity United Church, Cobourg	Northumberland Orchestra Cobourg Celebration Concert	For Ellen Sonata for Organ and Brass various arrangements of early Canadian Music: College Hornpipe The Cobourg Waltz Cobourg Quadrilles The Cobourg Hymn When You Get Back to Your Home Town	organ: Randy Mills trumpet: Bob Reid trumpet: Neil Hunter trombone: Dean Pattison tuba: Ron Parker timpani: Keith Stahley piano: Rod Anderson arrangements Rod Anderson
Mar/01	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	A Doodle on Sevenths Beaver Rag Black Poodle Rag	piano: Rod Anderson
Jun/01	Church, Newcastle	Recital of the students of Nancy Chisling	Song No. 1 for Merike	soprano: Merike Lugus piano: Rod Anderson
Dec/01	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Mady's Cascades Beaver Rag For Barbara	cello: Janko Marjanovic piano: Rod Anderson
Apr/02	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	The Darkened Voice	piano: Rod Anderson
Feb/03	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Song No. 1 for Merike The Darkened Voice Folksong without Words For Barbara Refracted Rays Beaver Rag The Darkened Voice	piano: Cecilia Ignatieff piano: Rod Anderson soprano: Merike Lugus violin: San Murata cello: Tyne Bonebakker
Feb/04	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Song No. 1 for Merike Keeping On Little Piano Suite SwallowHill Skip	piano: Cecilia Ignatieff piano: Rod Anderson soprano: Merike Lugus
Apr/04	Trinity United Church, Cobourg	'Saving Grace' concert of The Oriana Singers	The Darkened Voice	sopranos & altos choir: The Oriana Singers conductor: Marie Anderson piano: Rod Anderson
Apr/05	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Little Recorder Suite Song No. 3 for Merike Little Piano Suite	recorder: Fred Cory recorder: Julian Nelson flute: Fred Cory piano:Cecilia Ignatieff piano: Rod Anderson soprano: Merike Lugus
Sep/05	SwallowHill, Cobourg	house concert	Little Flute and Piano Suite Little Piano Piece Beaver Rag with Flute Descant	flute: Fred Cory piano:Maren Cook piano: Rod Anderson
Jun 9/06	forthcoming	Concert of The Oriana Singers	A Ragtime Round	choir: The Oriana Singers conductor: Marie Anderson

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Internet presence

Rod's Music

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Extra-curricular activities

Director of Young People's Theatre (c.1965 - 1970)
Member of the Advisory Council to the School of Business, Queen's University (1978-80)
Chairman of the Internet Committee of the League of Canadian Poets (1996)
Treasurer, University Club of Toronto (1968)
Member, York Club (Toronto) (1980 - 1986)
Member, Kappa Alpha Society (VT) (1952 - present)

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Other CVs

The above CV is my CV as composer. Two alternative CVs are:

[Obviously, the result of a certain lack of focus. Some people just can't decide what they want to do.]

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