Mike Anderson

Description

Mike Anderson is best known as an outstanding mountain dulcimer player and children's performer. Along with playing dulcimer, he tells stories and plays banjo, jawharp, and bones. An award-winning educator, Mike Anderson has been received several honors for his writing and an award-winning children's television program he wrote and hosted. Mike is also nationally renown, appearing at the Nat'l Mt. Music Festival, holding a prestigious position on the faculty of the Mt. Dulcimer Workshops at The Ozark Folk Center, Appalachian State Univ, and Western Carolina Univ., as well as presenting workshops and concerts across the US. Internationally, Encyclopedia Britannica brought Mike to Taiwan for storytelling performances and teacher's workshops.
Anderson retired after teaching for 40+ years. Anderson received a Masters in Education and served on the Illinois State Board of Education's Language Arts and Mathematics Committees that developed the Illinois State Learning Goals. He received a Storytelling for Literacy grant from the ISBE. Within the Literacy grant, Anderson authored books for reading and writing literacy and several articles on using storytelling and activities to alleviate children's fears. Anderson conducts workshops for teachers, early childhood providers, and parents on the topic of storytelling for literacy. He has authored 30+ picture books.

Work Sample

This is a 30--minute video created for 2020 Library Summer Reading. It highlights a variety of folk instruments (dulcimer, banjo, jawharp, and bones) and stories.

It is a decent sample of what I do now. It doesn't demonstrate my abilities on the instruments. I teach mountain dulcimer and have been on the Continuing Ed faculties at Appalachian State Univ and Western Carolina Univ. I also was a lower elementary classroom teacher for 43 years.

History

I have been a primarily children's performer for 40 years. My works ranging from music and singing to storytelling. I am also a children's author with multiple books and recording to my credit.

Artistic Vision

To bring the language and music based folk arts to the youth.

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

Being a oft-used presenter at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, I offer programs on musical instruments of the soldiers in the Civil War as well as adult programming on the music and history of the mountain dulcimer.