Anne Akiko Meyers (born May 15, 1970, in San Diego[1]) is an American violinist. She has been called “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad.[2]
Her album Fandango, was awarded two Latin GRAMMY Latin Grammy's for Best Classical Album and Best Contemporary Composition at the 25th Latin Grammy Awards in Miami. She also received two GRAMMY nominations. Fandango features the live world premiere recording of Arturo Márquez's new concerto for violin and orchestra by the same name, written for Meyers, with the L.A. Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel.[3]
She was the top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts.[4][5]
Meyers appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk on September 7, 2023. In 2024, she served as the Artistic Director for the Laguna Beach Music Festival, a multi-day series of classical and contemporary concerts, community engagement programs, and dynamic special events.[6]
Meyers was inducted into 2024 Asian Hall of Fame.[7]
Early life and education
The daughter of an artist and a college president, Meyers was born in California. Her mother is of Japanese descent, and her father American. She was raised in Southern California, studied with Shirley Helmick, and then with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the preparatory division of the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles. In 1980, the Thornton School of Music and its preparatory division ended their relationship, and the preparatory division moved locations and was renamed the Colburn School.
Meyers has lifetime use of the 1741 Vieuxtemps Guarneri "del Gesu".[10] She previously toured with a 1730 Stradivarius violin called the Royal Spanish,[11] and a 1697 Stradivarius called the Molitor Stradivarius.[12] In her recording of Bach's Concerto in D minor for Two Violins, BWV 1043, she plays both parts—one part on the "Royal Spanish" and the other on the "Molitor."[13]
The Engagements written by novelist J. Courtney Sullivan is loosely based on Meyers's career; it was one of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year in 2014.[19] Meyers also played the violinist character, Violetta, in Crumpet the Trumpet by children's book author and illustrator, Kristine Papillon.[20] Meyers' recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara's Fantasia was the only classical instrumental work included by NPR in their list of 100 best songs of 2017.[21]
On September 30, 2014, Meyers released The American Masters, which includes two world premieres: Mason Bates's Violin Concerto and the Lullaby for Natalie by John Corigliano, written for the birth of her first-born daughter, Natalie. The album also includes Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto.[26][27]
In September 2015, Meyers released Serenade: The Love Album, her 34th album, featuring Leonard Bernstein's epic Serenade. Meyers commissioned seven arrangers including Adam Schoenberg, Brad Dechter, J.A.C. Redford and Steven Mercurio to arrange ten love-inspired works from classic movies and the American Songbook. The seven arrangers were chosen to resemble the seven philosophers of Plato's Symposium, which Bernstein's Serenade is based on. The album was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra with Keith Lockhart conducting.[30]
Meyers performed the posthumous world premiere of Fantasia by Einojuhani Rautavaara, written for her, with the Kansas City Symphony conducted by Michael Stern in March 2017. Meyers met Rautavaara at his home in December 2015 to play the work for him. He died in July 2016 before its first public performance nearly a year later.[31]
Adam Schoenberg's first violin concerto, Orchard in Fog, written for Meyers, was premiered by her with the San Diego Symphony and conductor Sameer Patel in February 2018.[32] The Violin Channel live-streamed the performance, acquiring the most views of any live video on the website to date.[33]
In May 2020, Meyers released the world premiere recording of Arvo Pärt's Estonian Lullaby for violin and piano, which was dedicated to her. She also released an accompanying animated watercolor video, produced in collaboration with Skazka Studios.[34]
Air – The Bach Album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard charts on its release on February 14, 2012. It featured "Bach Double" played on two different Stradivarius violins.[39][40]
Meyers' performance of The Vivaldi Four Seasons Album debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard charts when released on February 14, 2014.[41]
Grammy Award
Fandango, Meyers was awarded two Latin Grammy's Latin GRAMMY for Best Classical Album and Best Contemporary Composition and received two GRAMMY nominations. Fandango features the live world premiere recording of Arturo Márquez's new concerto for violin and orchestra by the same name, written for Meyers, with the L.A. Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel. [42]
Discography
The following releases feature Meyers on violin.[43][44]
In 2006, she served as a panelist, recitalist, and teacher at the Juilliard School's Starling-DeLay Symposium. In May 2008, UCLA invited her to be the Regent's Lecturer in violin.[61]
In late 2009, Meyers joined the Butler School of Music at University of Texas at Austin as Distinguished Artist and Professor of Violin.[62]
In September 2015, she was honored with a Luminary Award by the Pasadena Symphony for her long-standing support of that orchestra.[63]
