Mr. Keith Anderson is an accomplished music professional who has dedicated his lifetime to serving music education. With a profound knowledge of and expertise in classical music, Mr. Anderson is hailed as a pioneer of music education in Hong Kong.

Mr. Anderson first came to Hong Kong in 1973 to serve as a lecturer in music at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He subsequently served as the chairman of the Music Department from 1974 to 1977. Mr. Anderson then went on to teach at the Hong Kong Conservatory of Music. He gave a series of notable lectures that were broadcast live by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), with the material subsequently taught at the Academy in 1984. In the late 1980s, he taught music at Hong Kong Baptist College (later renamed Hong Kong Baptist University), and was appointed a visiting scholar for two years in the early 1990s.

Mr. Anderson is a respected educator as well as a dedicated musician, and his service to Hong Kong over the years contributed to the city’s thriving arts scenes today.

Mr. Anderson joined the Academy at its inception in 1984. His contribution helped forge the path that the Academy followed in creating its School of Music. As of the very first cohort, Mr. Anderson’s insights and musical knowledge have greatly inspired graduates of the Academy.

Mr. Anderson helped build the Academy’s solid teaching foundation, nurturing many of the current faculty members, including some of the heads of departments at the School of Music. His book An Introduction to Classical Music and his thousands of notes on recording albums are used as teaching materials in music history. Over the years, Mr. Anderson has always been a great supporter of the School of Music of the Academy.

A highly regarded performer, Mr. Anderson was briefly in the viola section of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also a prolific broadcaster for RTHK Radio 4 between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, and has been the art critic for The Star, the Hongkong Standard and the South China Morning Post, in addition to being co-editor of Hi-Fi and Music Magazine. For more than three decades, he has been editor-in-chief for Naxos Records, during which time he has written liner notes for several thousand albums.

In addition to institutes of higher education, Mr. Anderson has taught at schools such as Ying Wah College and St. Catharine’s School for Girls, providing opportunities to many students from humble backgrounds to take up a musical instrument. Many of his students have gone on to forge careers in music, both in performance and in music education.