Name: Gregg Anderson

Instrument: Violin

Hometown: Topeka, KS

At what age did you begin playing your instrument? 4 ½

Who have been your greatest musical influences?
Lacy McLarry (my first violin teacher), David Oistrakh, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, LaSalle String Quartet and Tokyo String Quartet.

What career path would you have taken had you not chosen music? Airline pilot, tennis pro.

What's currently playing on your iPod or CD player?
Allan Holdsworth's Atavachron, Anita Baker, Hillary Hahn, Prokofiev.

Your hobbies and interests: Aviation (I am a private pilot.), guitars, violins, writing and recording original music, playing tennis and violin with my daughter, maintaining my house, teaching and performing with my students.

Some little-known, yet interesting facts about you:
I've washed and waxed over 200 airplanes, helped sell over 80,000 hot dogs at air shows and was the head grill man at Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. I mowed lawns and sold stationery to buy my first violin. I was "1st Place Men's Singles" in tennis for the City of Naples.

Funniest concert moment: When we played a trick on a pops conductor by not playing the stinger at the end of a piece, even though he conducted one.

Daily practice rituals: Tune, 30-minute workout, NPO repertoire, solo piece for me.

The question you're asked most often about your instrument (and your answer): "What kind of instrument do you play?" My answer: "Carl George 1914, Scott Sleider 1999 and Scott Tribby 2002."

Your favorite part about playing in the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra: The music, the colleagues and all who support the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra.