Janessa Anderson
is from San Diego California. She began her studies at Grossmont College in the Fall of 1996, where she
gained a strong foundation in the fundamentals of musicianship, theory, and performance. Ms. Anderson continued her undergraduate
studies at Arizona State University School Of Music at the Herberger College of Fine Arts. While at ASU,
Ms. Anderson studied Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Music as well as taking courses through the university’s
Vocal Music program and Lyric Opera Theater. She was honored with several scholarships and, in her senior year, was selected
to be one of three undergraduates ever selected to conduct the College’s Graduate Chorale, as well as serving as the
Vice-President for the university’s student chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association.
After graduating from ASU with
honors, Ms. Anderson began her choral teaching career at North High School in Phoenix, Arizona. While there, Janessa led the
choirs to numerous “Superior” and First-place honors at national festivals. She was fortunate to work with the
talented singers of North for five years before deciding to pursue a Master of Music degree. She was selected as a graduate
teaching assistant in the area of Performance and Pedagogy at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. During her
two years at OSU, Janessa conducted and performed with the Concert Chorale, Women’s Chorale, and Chamber Choir, as well
as preparing the ensembles for the National ACDA Conferences. She also served as an adjudicator for local and national choral
conferences as well as being a frequent guest conductor and clinician in the national choral arena.
In 2010, Janessa was accepted
to the University of Washington as a Doctoral student in Choral Conducting, with the goal of increasing her choral repertoire
knowledge and research in the field of music education. While attending U of W, Ms. Anderson sharpened her conducting techniques,
furthered her leadership skills, and expanded her understanding of choral music.
In addition to her extensive scholarly pursuits in choral
and vocal music, Ms. Anderson has managed a private voice studio, where she has worked one-on-one with vocal students of all
ability levels from ages 14-63 since 2003.
Recently, Ms. Anderson was selected to be the Director of Choral activities at Ramona High School, where
she will be conducting and directing all of the choral groups. Janessa hopes to lead another group of students to a profound
love of and appreciation for music while instilling in them the skills they will need in their 21st century lives,
whether in the field of music or otherwise. Ms. Anderson is also honored to be working with the students of Mt. Woodson Elementary
School, in Ramona, California, where she will be teaching students in grades K-6 the fundamentals of musicianship and reinforcing
classroom standards through the unique platform of music.
