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Muriel Anderson performs on a 20-string harp-guitar and her facility across multiple genres, combined with gentle sense of humor, is revered by audiences and guitarists worldwide. She is the first woman to win the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship. Guitar Player Magazine lists her as one of the top 50 guitarists of all time and she has recently been listed among the top ten female guitarists, yet it is her uplifting songs and melodies that leave her audience smiling.
She has recorded with country legend Chet Atkins, performed with Les Paul and countless other greats in “Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night®” over the past 30+ years.
She is celebrating the release of SAILING DREAMS, her innovative CD & board game, on the heels of her Acoustic Chef book/CD. Muriel’s double CD, Nightlight Daylight, was chosen as one of the top 10 CDs of the decade by Guitar Player Magazine and placed first in its category in 11 national awards. Her “Heartstrings” recording accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle.
Muriel’s multimedia show brings you on a planetary tour of tastes, images, and music with a backdrop of stunning visuals by photo-artist Bryan Allen. Muriel is founder of the MUSIC FOR LIFE ALLIANCE charity.
Quotes
Muriel Anderson is a good friend and a great guitarist. She deserves national recognition.
Chet Atkins
Just one hell of a great player …a great personality and what I like is the touch that Muriel has on the guitar, the way she plays it like we all wish to play.
Les Paul
Recordings and Publications
Her double CD “Nightlight Daylight” won top honors in a dozen awards and is the first ever to include an interactive fiber-optic lighted CD cover, her own concept. It includes collaborations with fellow musicians Victor Wooten, Phil Keaggy, Mark Kibble of Take 6, Danny Gottlieb, Stanley Jordan, Tommy Emmanuel, Earl Klugh, Howard Levy, Jeff Coffin, Tierra Negra and members of the Nashville Symphony.
Her recording of “El Noi de la Mare” appears in Woody Allen’s film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.” and her “Heartstrings” recording accompanied the astronauts on the space shuttle Discovery. Muriel Anderson has released more than a dozen instrumental CD’s, eight instructional DVD’s and guitar books published by Hal Leonard, Mel Bay, and Zen-On Japan. Her compositions include commissioned classical works for the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Vox Caelestis Womens Choir, as well as songs which have appeared as title tracks for three albums by various artists.
Endorsements and Columnist
Muriel has published articles in Guitar Player, Acoustic Guitar, Fingerstyle Guitar, Classical Guitar and Frets magazines, and has been a regular columnist for Acoustic Guitar Japan magazine. She has many teaching DVDs and books. Muriel teaches online via TrueFire.com/h2495 and StringMasters as well as at guitar workshops across the country. many of which are sponsored by her GHS Signature strings. She plays and records on many handmade instruments including Tierra Negra flamenco, Camps, Mike Doolin harp guitars, Mike Brittain harp guitars, DT guitars, Alvarez Yairi, McPhearson, Emerald, and Morris steel string guitars (Japan). She uses Seymour Duncan D-Tar and Barbera pickups.
More Quotes
She has demonstrated excellent technique and has the fine musicianship to communicate well to her audiences.
Christopher Parkening
Acoustic guitarist Muriel Anderson… has justifiably gained a reputation as one of the world’s best, and most versatile, guitar instrumentalists.
Chicago Tribune
After reaching the top in her field – she is widely recognized as the premier female fingerstyle guitarist today – Anderson hopes to encourage and inspire a younger audience, to turn them on to the beauty of making music, and maybe in some cases, even turn their lives around.
The Reporter, Melissa Erickson
Theme for Two Friends marks a new renaissance for classical guitar and cello! Ms Anderson’s compositions are flawless. Work like this assures me that music in the next century is in good hands.
Nicholas Fuchs, Music Director Emeritus, Illinois Chamber Ensemble
Wildcat is not only Muriel Anderson’s best CD to date, it is perhaps the best album of the year.
Steve King and Johnnie Putnam of WGN Radio
With playing that grabs you by the ear and never let’s go, this is a fine portrait of an artist that just keeps getting better and better fully deserving of a toe to toe spot with the masters that have taught her so well.
Chris Spector, Midwest Record Recap
I cannot think of another guitarist who seems to have taken over the role of Segovia in popularizing the finger-style guitar as Muriel Anderson has.
Lawrence Long, Knoxville-Oak Ridge Guitar Society
Muriel Anderson is one of America’s Premier solo-acoustic guitarists.
Guitar Player Magazine
Muriel Anderson’s performance blew us all away at the Troubadour. Including me. As a guitarist myself, I was astonished at how easily and fluidly she breezed through musical passages of extreme technical difficulty without the slightest hitch in their musicality. And her presentation and stage persona were inviting, friendly, and accessible to everyone in the audience, whether musicians or ordinary music-lovers. I can’t wait to have her back.
Mike Agranoff, Program Chairman, Troubadour Acoustic Concert Series
COMPOSER BIO
Composer, guitarist, and harp guitarist Muriel Anderson has composed music since about age five. She fell in love with the guitar at an early age and learned every style available to her, beginning with folk, bluegrass and jazz. She received a degree in music from DePaul University and went on to study with classical virtuoso Christopher Parkening and with Nashville legend Chet Atkins.
Her CD “Nightlight Daylight” is a culmination of her creative spirit and has won 11 awards including Global Music Award’s Best Instrumental Composition for “A Bakers Dozen.”
Books of her original music include “New Classics for Guitar and Cello” and her works have been performed by the Nashville Chamber Orchestra and Chicago’s Vox Caelestis among others.
She is founder of the Music for Life Alliance charity and the Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night®.