Andy Anders will be the guest of honor when the Arkansas Tech University Department of Music hosts a pre-game luncheon in Chambers Cafeteria West Dining Room at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.
Admission will be $20 per person. Those planning to attend are asked to register by Friday, Oct. 25, at www.atualumni.com/musicluncheon24.
Anders’ former students, colleagues and friends are invited to honor him by contributing to the Volta O. “Andy” Anders Endowed Music Fund at www.atualumni.com/andersmusic.
The fund will help ensure that enhanced opportunities continue to be available to ATU music students into perpetuity.
There will be an on-field recognition of Anders and the endowed music fund named in his honor during the Arkansas Tech home football game on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Anders’ Arkansas Tech story began in 1961. Then a junior in high school, he sold a cow named Mandy so that he could attend band camp at Arkansas Tech.
Time has proven that it was a good investment, and one that has benefited both Anders and generations of Arkansas Tech students.
A 1967 graduate of Arkansas Tech, Anders joined the faculty at his alma mater the following year. When Anders retired from ATU at the end of the 2007-08 academic year, it closed a 40-year teaching career that began when he was hired as instructor of low brass. His service to ATU included a decade as head of the ATU Department of Music from 1998-2008.
“I was a sophomore double-majoring in math and music,” said Anders of the moment when he chose his life’s path. “During that time, there was a really big push for math and science, but I just loved my tuba. I got to thinking about it, and I had never actually met one, but I knew that there had to be low brass teachers at other colleges like Arkansas Tech. So that became my goal, and for Tech to add that position and for me to actually end up with it was just a miracle.”
In many ways, it all started when Anders attended that band camp in 1961 and met Gene Witherspoon. A member of the Arkansas Tech music faculty from 1950 until the time of his passing in 1979, Witherspoon recruited Anders to Tech and served as one of his instructors. Later, they were colleagues on the faculty.
Anders counts “Chief Witherspoon” as one of his most important mentors.
“He had a lot of charisma,” said Anders when asked about Witherspoon. “He had tremendous leadership, and he used that to best advantage. One of the things that he did that was unique at that time was that he embraced a lot of the new music that was being written for band. Throughout much of its early history, band only had transcriptions. I love transcriptions, but of course band was crying out for a literature of its own.
“(Witherspoon) embraced that and played a lot of things that other people would not play,” continued Anders. “He played music by the modern composers, and they were big-name composers. As a result, we started having those people on our campus. All of a sudden, the name Arkansas Tech was known all across the country. I think that’s the biggest thing he did for Arkansas Tech.”
Forty years of teaching music and working with students provides plenty of memories. Anders has his fair share.
“I remember the time the bus got stuck on Jasper Mountain in an ice storm, and 27 of us slept in a country church with wood heat,” said Anders. “I remember when we moved into (Witherspoon Hall) and had an auditorium for the first time. That was a huge development.
“My fondest memories come from the personnel that we have had,” continued Anders. “We have had remarkable, dedicated faculty through the years. You can’t ask for anything better than that, and it has attracted a certain quality of student. One of my favorite things to do now is catch up with former students, and it’s amazing to see them all grown up. It’s very fulfilling to see that.”
Learn more about the ATU Department of Music at www.atu.edu/music.
