Pics and Bio

As a cellist, bassist, conductor and teacher, Erik Anderson’s charismatic personality and thoughtful approach to music engages audiences of all ages and musical tastes. Whether in pre-concert lectures for the Minot Symphony Orchestra, presentations in public school classrooms, or on stages from the Great Plains to Europe, he communicates an infectious curiosity and deep respect for the music he performs—from AC/DC to Zeppelin, Baroque to Contemporary—as well as a passion for education and exploration.

He currently teaches cello, bass, music theory and history of rock and pop at Minot State University (Minot, ND), where he moved with his family in 2003 after seven years as a free-lance cellist, assistant conductor, and business owner in Cincinnati, OH. He plays on a modern Italian instrument, made by Riccardo Bergonzi (Cremona, 2006) but also spends regular time on an NS 5-string electric cello and a gut 5-string Baroque replica. In 2024 he collaborated with three orchestras in the Bay Area for Erik M. Anderson’s Concerto Nova, written in blues, hip-hop, thrash metal, and house styles for electric 5-string, and orchestra.

Anderson is particularly active with the music of JS Bach, highlighted by the Unaccompanied Suites BWV 1007-12, central to his graduate study with renowned performer and pedagogue Yehuda Hanani, and has been a featured perfomer and lecturer from California to New York. In January 2024, he gave a house concert of all six suites, each paired with a ‘sweet’ reminiscent of the character of the music–Sweets and Suites!

Dr. Anderson regularly performs cello-piano duo repertoire with his life partner, Dr. Dianna Anderson. Over the 24-25 academic year, they are engaged in a series of five recital programs, pairing each of the Beethoven Sonatas with a 20th century work.

Anderson conducts and performs annually for Community Rocks, a symphonic rock non-profit co-founded with Andy Bertsch in 2014 that has raised more than $450,000 for local organizations. As a 70s and 80s hair band and hard rock fan, Erik is thrilled to bring classic guitar solos like Thunderstuck, Stairway to Heaven, Free Bird, Eruption, Creeping Death and more to life on the electric cello.

A native of Washington State, he began his cello studies at the age of three, earned his BM and MM from the University of Idaho, and completed his DMA at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers have been Wayne C. Smith, William Wharton, and Yehuda Hanani. Apart from music, Dr. Anderson loves to cook, golf, cross-country ski, play games with the family, and chase any type of ball as though his life depended on it. (updated: January 2025)

Contact Information

Minot State University j.erik.anderson@minotstateu.edu (o) 701.858.3576

Non-University business fourstringcntrnpnt@gmail.com

My Cello Teachers

No pics yet of Peggy Olson or Linda Dunn (Suzuki, ’77-83), Trudy “Tru” Sacreson (sp?) (’84-86), or Wayne Cyril Smith (’86-’91). Pictured below are William Wharton (’91-96, BM, MM) and Yehuda Hanani (Aspen Festival ’95, ’96-’99 DMA). Yehuda is pictured below with one of his primary mentors, Pablo Casals.