Edward Anderson

Edward Anderson, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Anderson Institute of Music and Performing Arts (AIM) and its multiple subsidiaries including Sky Walk Records. He is responsible for guiding the overall activities of the affiliate music companies such as The IMPACT Foundation, the Sky City Music Company and the Sun Valley Choirs, Inc. Prior to founding AIM in 2005 and Sky Walk Records in 2008, Mr. Anderson was Executive Director of the Algonquin Theater in New York City and Executive Director of American Red Cross chapters in New York, Florida and California.

In a brief hiatus from the music industry in 2006, he was appointed to serve on the National Advisory Council for the Department of Homeland Security by former Secretary Michael Chertoff under the Bush Administration and reappointed by Secretary Janet Napolitano under the Obama Administration in the areas of Public Health and Non-Profit Partnerships.

Under Mr. Anderson's direction, the Algonquin Theater became solvent and was successful in launching several new writers and shows in the theater industry. In addition, he successfully navigated AIM through the economic downturn of 2008 to present. Mr. Anderson oversees Sky Walk Records through rapid evolution in a changing music industry. He is an accomplished Producer and Songwriter winning the prestigious Billboard Magazine Song of Year and three AIRA/RIAA Song of the Year nominations. He is a member of BMI and NSAI. In 2010, a Hawaiian song he recorded titled "Kanaka Wai Wai" became the #1 most requested song in Guam for 22 straight weeks.

Mr. Anderson has earned a M.A. degree with honors in Philosophy & Religion with an emphasis in Ethics from Loma Linda University, a Project Management Certification from Villanova University, an MBA degree with an emphasis in Economics from University of West Florida/Regis University, and has attended Southwestern University School of Law in pursuit of a J.D. degree with emphasis in Entertainment Law. He is recipient of the Irwin N. Bloom Endowment Law Scholarship for his demonstrated work and commitment to public service and government work when he organized the largest pro bono legal network in Los Angeles County to provide free legal service to over 2,000 refugees from the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

Mr. Anderson began his music career as a songwriter. His credits include the Shoreline Singers 1987 hit "On My Way", Morning Star's 1989 hit "Take Me Home" and producing such hit songs as "Keep Looking Up," "Signs of the Times," and "How A Woman Changed My Life" which climbed to 36 on the Nashville Country charts. Mr. Anderson received three prestigious Song of the Year award nominations by AIRA/RIAA and subsequently joined Sony Records in 1996 as a writer and producer. He also worked for such music companies as Brentwood Studios, Sparrow Records, and Capitol Ad Management but he took a leave of absence to deal with family issues at the time. In 2003, after a long sabbatical, he returned to music in Nashville and the new Tin Path South located in Orange Beach, Alabama and Perdido Key, Florida. He was selected as a featured Singer/Songwriter in the 2003 and 2004 International Songwriter's Festivals and opened with such songwriting greats as two-time Grammy Award winner Casey Kelly, Larry Butler and Bobby Keel. In 2005, he launched his own label, Makati Sound Studio Productions, which was eventually acquired by newly founded Sky Walk Records in 2008. At this time Mr. Anderson was named President and CEO.

As part of his strategy for growth, Mr. Anderson expanded the record label's penetration into the performing arts community by establishing partnership with Island Sounds, Inc. and Odds on Records and established co-venture deals with 2012 Grammy Award winning team Bonzai Caruso and Steven Ventic with distribution through Universal Distribution.

Mr. Anderson is energizing the industry by developing new artists with fusion sounds in various genres. Under his leadership, he is expected to produce successful newcomers in the areas of Country, Island, Christian, Chorale, Adult Contemporary and Alternative Rock. In addition, together with his wife Angela Anderson, he is revitalizing the performing arts through sound business models learned in both private and non-profit industries. Throughout his career, Mr. Anderson has worked in many different capacities in the private, non-profit and government sectors. All of which is culminating in a new direction for the performing arts industries which encompass music, theater, and dance.

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