John Edgar Thomas Anderson (born 18 May 1948) is a Northern Irish composer, editor, arranger, TV producer and director, record producer and radio presenter. He is "one of Ireland’s most accomplished writers, producers, directors and composers".

Early life

Anderson was born in Belfast in Northern Ireland. As a young child he grew up on the Rathcoole estate on the outskirts of Belfast, and attended Whitehouse Primary School, where he would learn the piano and sing in the choir. He would later attend the Royal Belfast Academical Institution where he studied Music, English, French and Spanish at A-Level in 1966. He then was admitted to the

Queen’s University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

, and went on to be elected the President of the Music Society. He later graduated as a Bachelor of Music (with Honours) in 1969. In 1971, he was appointed to be Assistant Director of Music at

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

. A post he would hold for the next seven years. It was during this time he was the organist for St. Comgall’s Parish Church, Rathcoole, and later as conductor for the Harlandic Male Voice Choir.

Career

Anderson worked as a Producer and TV Studio Director for UTV and BBC NI.

John Anderson Big Band

Anderson is known for the John Anderson Big Band, which had chart hits with the

Glenn Miller Medley The "Glenn Miller Medley" (also called "Plays Glenn Miller") was a single by the John Anderson Big Band. It was a medley, covering several songs previously recorded by jazz musician Glenn Miller, including "In the Mood", "American Patrol", " Li ...

and

In the Mood "In the Mood" is a popular big band-era jazz standard recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. "In the Mood" is based on the composition "Tar Paper Stomp" by Wingy Manone. The first recording under the name "In the Mood" was released by E ...

. He is also known for producing the basis for the Jive Bunny hits. His Glenn Miller Medley entered the

UK Singles Charts The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1985 and reached number 61 and stayed there for 5 weeks Anderson was later signed as a solo recording artist to MCA (Universal) and entered the UK Album Charts on 25 November 1995, with the album The Romance of Ireland.

Radio

Anderson produced and presented a long-running, one-hour weekly radio show on BBC Radio Ulster. From 2007-2018 Anderson produced and presented a weekly series for BBC Radio Ulster, called "Sing Out".

On Eagle’s Wing

Anderson is perhaps best known as the writer and producer of the musical stage show On Eagle’s Wing, a musical about the Ulster-Scots and their impact on the history of Scotland, Northern Ireland and the United States. It was debuted in Belfast at the SSE Odyssey Arena in May 2004. Former US President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

stated that the show was sure to promote the parity of esteem initiated by the Good Friday Agreement, "On Eagle’s Wing will facilitate a better appreciation of the story of the Scots-Irish…it supports efforts towards reconciliation, peace and acceptance of cultural differences". It has been broadcast across the USA from coast to coast on PBS in 2005., and was also broadcast to Australia. It has been distributed on DVD by Foreign Media Music (Netherlands). A documentary was also made, by Moore Sinnerton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John Irish musicians Living people BBC radio producers Musicians from Belfast 1948 births