Dr. and Mrs. Anderson Impact Students Through Their Faithful Service at Cedarville University By Esther Fultz Good professors create a warm, welcoming environment for students to learn while simultaneously challenging them to grow and improve. They are passionate about students' academic success but ultimately prioritize students' spiritual health and service to others. Senior Professor of Music and Director of the Concert Chorale, Dr. Lyle Anderson, and Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Director of the Keyboard Pedagogy Program, Mrs. Connie Anderson, fit this description well. Both Cedarville graduates, Dr. and Mrs. Anderson have worked at the university for 54 and 52 years respectively, enriching the lives of many students while witnessing many advancements in the Music and Worship Department during their time here. "I love the students," Mrs. Anderson said. "Lyle drops me off every morning, and as I walk from our car into the DMC where I teach, I pray for my students and their classes and I thank the Lord for this opportunity. I love keeping track of the students after they graduate, begin their careers and build their marriages. Some of our Fit to Be Tied couples are keyboard pedagogy majors and just watching them walk through life with the Lord brings me great joy." While music was a passion for both of the Andersons from an early age, neither of them initially desired to pursue a career in music. Dr. Anderson grew up wanting to be a pediatrician and Mrs. Anderson wanted to be a nurse well into her high school years. "My passion for music started when I began teaching piano at the age of 13," Mrs. Anderson said. "My teacher was very gracious and gave me some of his students to teach, but throughout high school, I decided I wanted to be a nurse, so the musical part dwindled a bit. But I ended up getting a music scholarship and Ceda1ville was really the only school that could provide what I needed tor that scholarship, so I came here." Mrs. Anderson had only planned to stay at Cedarville for two years and then transfer elsewhere to complete her nursing degree, but that quickly changed. "I ended up accompanying Lyle tor his voice lessons," Mrs. Anderson said. "I think all that accompanying really created a love tor making music together and showed me that I really love music and I thoroughly enjoy being a part of it." For Dr. Anderson, his passion for music stemmed from his local church. Singing was very much prevelant in every service, including Wednesday nights and youth group activities. "I began piano lessons at age 1 O and in elementary school, drums were an interest," Dr. Anderson said. "Neither of my parents nor Connie's were musical but they saw the value of involving us in music, and we both found that we loved it and God had given us an affinity for it." Dr. Anderson continued to participate in musical activities throughout high school. He participated in the choirs, played tuba in the band, was drum major in the marching band, played piano in a jazz ensemble and performed in the school musical, all of which led to his desire to be a high school music teacher. This was his goal until his sophomore year at Cedarville when Dr. Warren Webber, chair of the Music Department. asked him it he would be interested in returning to Cedarville one day to teach music theory. "I said, 'Wow, that is something I could really picture myself doing!"' Dr. Anderson said. "Two weeks after graduating from Cedarville. I was on the faculty. This prompted my graduate study at The Ohio State University." Mrs. Anderson taught piano lessons during her days as a Cedarville student and was hired as an adjunct piano professor after graduating, teaching a large studio of Cedarville students from the Andersons' home. Her teaching role expanded after their two children graduated from Cedarville. Dr. Chuck Clevenger, chair of the music department at that time, encouraged her to get her master's degree in Keyboard Pedagogy for the new program Cedarville hoped to create. "Keyboard Pedagogy programs were brand new, but it was very interesting," Mrs. Anderson said. "I attended a couple of conferences and then decided to pursue graduate studies in this field. I just knew that was where the Lord wanted me, so little by little teaching as an adjunct moved into a Graphics by Angela Delano Fall 2023
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