Anderson, Robert T.

Robert Theodore Anderson was born October 5, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. He began playing piano at 5 years old, even playing by ear before he had his first lesson. As a 13-year-old, Anderson went to hear French virtuoso Marcel Dupré, organist of St. Sulpice in Paris, play at the summer weekly series at Rockefeller Chapel. He started organ lessons at 14 and played for Sunday morning services at Hyde Park Methodist Church in Chicago while at Hyde Park high school and continuing piano with Mary Ruth Craven. He was registered with the American Conservatory of Music, and gave his student recitals in downtown Chicago under its sponsorship.

While Anderson was at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, studying with Lillian Mecherle McCord, he spent summers as the organist of Fourth Presbyterian Church on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. During this time he had a weekly composition lesson with his college mentor, Frank Bohnhorst.

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