Interview with NWMA Executive Director and Owner, Mark Anderson

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Interview with NWMA Executive Director and Owner, Mark Anderson

Below is from an interview with NWMA Executive Director and Owner, Mark Anderson, that appeared in the Hacienda News, a locally circulated newsletter that circulates throughout the Hacienda Business Park. This interview appeared late in 2018. New

World Music Academy Offers a Quality Music Education

By Hacienda Pulse Staff Writer

New World Music Academy is committed to providing world-class music instruction. Since opening its doors in 2005, New World Music Academy has offered instruction in piano; voice; guitar; strings, including violin, viola, and cello; winds, including clarinet, sax, and flute; drums; songwriting; and more.

“Whether for an adult, starting lessons for the first time, or the local wunderkind, we have the experience and expertise to handle all ages and levels of music students,” says Mark Anderson.

Anderson is a Pleasanton native. Before he opened New World Music Academy, Anderson had a long and successful career as a professional concert and recording pianist. While still owner of New World Music Academy, Anderson is also assistant professor of Piano, Piano Pedagogy, and Chamber Music at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

The quality and experience of New World Music Academy instructors and the performance opportunities offered to students are among the factors that make New World Music Academy so special to students, according to Anderson. Students benefit not only from lessons and classes but also from the self-esteem gained by participating in recitals, student projects, community outreach programs, and special academy-sponsored events.

“Our SoundArts program is unique and provides coaching from world-class teachers and performance opportunities that give invaluable experience and confidence to our students,” says Anderson. “Learning music, rehearsing together, and performing together provides a unique learning environment for music students that cannot be found in public schools or private lessons in someone’s home. Our instructors work together to create deeply meaningful musical experiences for our students through correct placement, repertoire selection, and knowing and understanding and adapting teaching styles to student’s learning styles.”

Some parents enroll children in classes at New World Music Academy after problematic experiences elsewhere. “We had a student recently who came from another music school in the area and the parent was quite desperate to rejuvenate the child’s interest in music,” explains Anderson. “We not only matched that student with the correct instructor–again, teaching style appropriate for the student’s learning style–but also convinced the parent to enroll the student in our SoundArts program. Because of this collaborative experience, the child made good friends by playing quality music together and working on music, solving musical problems together, and performing in public. That particular ensemble is now preparing to compete in regional and national competition through the Music Teachers National Association early next year. This is the kind of result we consistently strive for at New World Music Academy.”

New World Music Academy offers an excellent music education for younger students who hope to become professional musicians, and it also welcomes beginning and more advanced adult music students as well.

“There is no better pursuit than to develop skills to play music,” says Anderson. Whether they want “only to strum a guitar on a Sunday morning or compete at the international level, people need to know where we are and what we offer.”

At its biannual recitals, the Academy regularly collects food and clothing donations for local food banks and battered women’s shelters. The next recital is scheduled for Saturday, December 15, 2018.

For more information about New World Music Academy, please visit

https://www.newworldmusicacademy.com or visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NewWorldMusicAcademy.

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