Chris Anderson

Awarded: 2025
Born: Akron, OH

"We strive to fill the ever-growing gap of individuals of all ages who have been denied the benefits of music."

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Chris Anderson is the founder of Open Tone Music, a non-profit organization which provides free access to premier music education and performance programming. The program has reached thousands of individuals in northeast Ohio.

After earning a Bachelor of Arts in music education from Baldwin Wallace University, Anderson went on to receive his master’s degree in music from The University of Akron.

An in-demand jazz trombonist, he also composes and performs many different musical genres, among them classical, Gospel, and Latin. He has performed with artists including Clark Terry, Jiggs Whigham, Nancy Wilson, Frank Wess, Louie Bellson, among others.

Anderson is also sought after as a clinician conducting music workshops and teaches at Oberlin Conservatory and The Ohio State University.

His humility and dedication to providing life-changing experiences to young people through music earned him the 2024 Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association.