Izzy Anderson has a multi-faceted career as both a professional musician and an award-winning artist. Her love of teaching has culminated in the creation of Izzy’s Artistic & Musical Academy, which provides students with an engaging studio environment where creativity is nurtured.
With over fifteen years of private and studio piano teaching experience, Izzy is well equipped to meet the needs of each student she encounters. Following her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from Missouri State University, Izzy graduated from the University of Texas – San Antonio with her Masters in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. During her Masters, she wrote a paper examining adaptive approaches to teaching students with dyslexia. Izzy has also worked with students with autism, visually impaired children, and children with learning disabilities. Izzy firmly believes every child deserves a positive musical experience! This paper topic paved the way for years of interest and research into the idea of an individualized approach for studio teaching, which can be applied to both piano and painting lessons. Izzy carefully chooses pieces or projects that are the right fit for her students’ abilities and learning styles, with the ultimate goal for students to have fun and enjoy learning.
Izzy is a member of San Antonio Music Teachers Association, and encourages her students to participate in the TMTA Theory Test, SAMTA Achievement Auditions, Ragtime Festival, competitions, and many other area events. Giving back to the community is also a priority. Her students join her playing at local assisted care facilities. Izzy partners with Hearts Need Art, a non-profit that provides creative support for patients and caregivers. Every week, Izzy plays piano to both staff and patients in area hospitals and rehab facilities. As a volunteer with the non-profit organization Grow with the Arts, Izzy helped to further their mission of getting “The Arts” back into schools. During her time with the program, she was featured as both a piano teacher and as a visual artist. In addition, Izzy was selected as the Artist-in-Residence for Longs Creek Elementary school for 2013-2014. She has also assisted with Long Creek’s after-school art club and, in February of 2016, taught over 150 elementary school students how to paint Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”
In 2019, Izzy wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, Princess Zoe and Her Marvelous Carriage. In the book, Princess Zoe and her family travel around in her beloved old carriage. However, not all the princesses at school think Princess Zoe’s carriage is marvelous, and she is bullied. With help from King Nicholaus, Princess Zoe learns to stand up for herself. She has since published her second children’s book, Princess Hallie and the Intergalactic Marvelous Carriage, in 2020. She is currently working on her third children’s book, and hopefully a few more books still to come! She frequently visits elementary schools during career days or as a visiting author. She presents on anti-bullying, the creative process and often brings her “Marvelous Carriage” 1970 VW Bus along as a surprise character from her book series.
As an artist, Izzy has a growing reputation. She was accepted into the international artist residency program through the Hungarian Multicultural Center to study in Budapest for three weeks in 2017. While working there, her painting “Rhapsody, Rocky, and Roy Take Master Hunting” was on exhibition in Budapest. At the same time, “Prescription for Pain” was accepted into the international show East Meets West Juried Art Exhibition for My Medicine and was displayed through the summer in Wisconsin. “Summer 1938” was awarded Honorable Mention in Inspire’s 8th Annual Juried Art Exhibition in 2017. “Prescription for Pain” was also previously awarded the “People’s Choice” award at the Inspire Gala 5th-Annual Juried Art show in 2015.
In mid-2016, Izzy had her first solo art show, Izzy’s Rhapsody: A Life Journey of Music and Art. As viewers walked through the show, each of the paintings on display represented a moment in her life. That summer, she also had three pieces featured in the 13th-Annual Fredericksburg Art Guild Exhibition, Earthly Delights. “Just a Girl and Her Dogs” placed second and “Encore” received honorable mention.
Izzy is primarily a self-taught artist, creating many pieces for family and friends before starting painting classes with Charles Ingram at Inspire Fine Arts Community Center in 2014. Today, her artwork has become a small business that experiences continued growth and success. Her artwork is hung at various music stores around San Antonio.
Izzy’s Artistic & Musical Academy is for students of all ages, from elementary school to adults. Feel free to contact her for more information about lessons, her approach to teaching, and her artwork.