Melissa Anderson
Melissa Anderson is the choir director, voice teacher, and music chair at Shenandoah Valley Academy in Virginia. She is the latest member of that family to teach music in Adventist academies. Her father, Clinton, teaches at Wisconsin Academy; an uncle, Curtis, teaches at Upper Columbia Academy; and an Aunt, Kim, teaches at Maplewood Academy.
Anderson was born in Bemidji, Minnesota. Following graduation from Maplewood Academy in 2002, she studied music at Union College for two years before transfering to Andrews University, where she completed a B.Mus.Ed. in 2007.
Although Anderson is primarily a singer, she also plays piano and trombone. She studied piano with Ryan Wells and voice with Dan Lynn at UC and voice with Stephen Zork at AU. While at AU, she was a member of the select choral group, the AU Singers, and traveled with them when they toured to Chile in 2005.
ds/2008
Source: Interview 2008.