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Composer, biography, pianist, percussionist, recording engineer

B i o g r a p h y

Anderson F. Alden is an award-winning composer based in Los Angeles. Anderson works at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions with James S. Levine (American Horror Story, Glee, Bloodline, Major Crimes, Nip Tuck, Star, Royal Pains, The Last Ship, Rizzoli & Isles, Damages, The Closer, The Weatherman, Madagascar). His recent works include music for Spongebob Squarepants: The Cosmic Shake (Purple Lamp/THQ Nordic) and La Brea (NBC).

 

Anderson was one of the first four Composer Fellows with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Stucky. Anderson’s orchestral work Lift was selected to open the 2016 summer season at the Hollywood Bowl, and was performed by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, to open a concert featuring Steely Dan. He has had two orchestral works premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as a chamber work premiered by Christian McBride and the Sonus Quartet, in Walt Disney Concert Hall.

 

Anderson was commissioned by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts to compose an operatic setting of Frank O’Hara’s “Lana Turner Has Collapsed!,” and to write incidental music for their annual YoungArts Performance and Gala, directed by Tony-winning choreographer/director Bill T. Jones. Anderson worked with Jones again on a performance on the USC Visions and Voices concert series.

 

Anderson is the recipient of three ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, and he has been featured on ASCAP's Composer Spotlight as a "composer to watch." He received his BA from Yale University where he was awarded the Abraham Beekman Cox First Prize “for the most promising gifted composer in the Junior class,” and his Masters in Music from the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he was awarded a teaching fellowship. Anderson’s composition teachers have included Steven Stucky, Donald Crockett, Andrew Norman, Sean Friar, Kathryn Alexander, Martin Bresnick, Robert Beaser, and A.J. McCaffrey. Anderson teaches privately and has been nominated for a NextNotes teaching award by the American Composers Forum.

 

As a pianist, Anderson performed world premieres of works by Gabriella Lena Frank and Chen Yi. As a percussionist, he has performed with a variety of ensembles including the Yale Gamelan Suprabanggo. Anderson also builds his own percussion instruments, and his works for found and constructed percussion have been featured on the USC Visions and Voices concert series.

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