Anne Akiko Meyers

Anne Akiko Meyers is celebrated as one of the world’s premiere concert violinists known today for her impassioned performances, dedicated artistry and inspiring musicianship. The renowned soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and educator regularly performs in the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. She has sought to reach wider audiences by premiering new works written for her and showcase under-performed or rarely heard works with a quest for experimentation and open dialogue.

In 2008, Meyers was invited by UCLA to host a special residency as Regent's Lecturer in violin. This marked the first time in UCLA history to bestow this honor on a violinist.

Meyers has been a regular guest at some of the most prestigious orchestras and venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, London's Philharmonia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, l'Orchestre de Paris, Minnesota Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo's NHK Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. An avid supporter of contemporary composers, she has premiered works by David Baker, John Corigliano, Nathan Currier, Roddy Ellias, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Jennifer Higdon, Arvo Part, Manuel Maria Ponce, Somei Satoh, Teddy Shapiro, Joseph Schwantner, and Ezequiel Viñao.

Background

Meyers was born in San Diego, California. Raised in Southern California she studied with Shirley Helmick, and then went on to study with Alice and
Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles, CA. She then proceeded to study with Josef Gingold at Indiana University and Dorothy DeLay, Felix Galimir and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School in New York City.She has been interviewed saying that as a child, her mother drove 3 hours each way for violin lessons and practiced her violin in the front seat of her family's VW Beetle.

Her mother, Yakko Meyers, is from Tokyo, Japan and her father, Richard Meyers, was formerly the president of Webster University in St.Louis. Her sister, Toni Meyers, is an ophthalmologist and plays piano in her spare time.

Early career

Meyers began studying the violin at age 4 and debuted with an orchestra at age 7. She was featured twice on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and the Emmy Awards Show at the age of 11. She also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and made her debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 12, with Zubin Mehta conducting. She recorded her first album in London at the Abbey Road Studios featuring the Barber and Bruch Concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 18. Having signed an exclusive RCA Red Seal contract at 21 years of age, she went on to record a comprehensive discography. At 23, she was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, the only artist to be the sole recipient of this annual award. Today, she performs around the globe as a featured soloist and recitalist with the most recognized names in classical music and has performed for dignitaries including the Emperor and Empress of Japan.

She performs on the “Royal Spanish” Antonio Stradivari violin, dated 1730, that once belonged to the King of Spain and uses a Peccatte bow. She endorses Thomastik-Infeld Vision Titanium strings, who is featuring her in their most recent advertising campaign.

Professional works

Meyers has recorded and published an extensive collection of music which can be found on the Avie Records, Camerata, Hyperion Records, Naxos Records, RCA Red Seal Records, RPO labels and Warner Classics Japan. Her debut disc, recorded at the age of 18, included the Samuel Barber "Violin Concerto" and the Max Bruch "Violin Concerto No.1" with Christopher Seaman and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. RPO Records recorded the sonatas of Saint-Saëns and Fauré. Her RCA catalogue is comprehensive and includes Lalo’s "Symphonie Espagnole" and Bruch’s "Scottish Fantasy" with Jesus Lopez-Cobos and the Royal Philharmonic; the Franck and Strauss sonatas; the Felix Mendelssohn "Concerto in E minor" and a selection of other works with Andrew Litton and the Philharmonia Orchestra and Prokofiev Violin Concertos with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under Dmitri Kitajenko. Sonata albums include "Salut d’Amour" featuring many encore pieces with classic Japanese folksongs and an album featuring works by Copland, Ives, Piston, and David Baker with pianist André-Michel Schub. She recorded works by Debussy, Messiaen, Ravel, Satoh and Takemitsu for Avie Records. Two works written expressly for Meyers include a live performance of the Somei Satoh Violin Concerto with Tetsuji Honna and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra on the Camerata label and 'Angelfire’ by Pulitzer-prize winning composer Joseph Schwantner with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Hyperion Records. Naxos Records also released a performance of Jennifer Higdon's piano trio, featuring Meyers, live from the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival and she recorded the Bruch Concerto live with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanawaza with Maestro Iwaki on Warner Classics Japan. She records a new album entitled, "Smile" this summer for international release in January 2009 on Koch Records with pianist, Akira Eguchi.

Discography

2009 'Smile' due out on Koch Records

2006 Jennifer Higdon Piano Trio (2003), Naxos Records

2006 Max Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 in g minor Live from Japan , Warner Classics

2006 ‘Angelfire’ (2001) Joseph Schwantner ‘Fantasy’ for amplified violin and orchestra (Written for Ms.Meyers), Hyperion

2004 ‘Kisetsu’ (2002) Somei Satoh Violin Concerto (Written for Ms.Meyers), Camerata Records

2004 'East Meets West' (Japanese/French Album), Avie Records

2003 ‘Smooth Classics’, ClassicFM Records

2001 ‘Romantic Violin’ RCA/BMG

2000 ‘Violin for Relaxation’ RCA/BMG

1999 ‘UltraSound’ Music for the Unborn Child, RCA/BMG

1997 'Sergei Prokofiev Album' with the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra/Kitajenko, RCA Red Seal

1997 'Franz Schubert', NPR Records

1996 'American Album', RCA Red Seal

1996 ‘Classical Ecstasy’, RCA Red Seal

1995 ‘French Orchestral Works’, RCA

1994 ‘Salut d’Amour’, RCA Red Seal

1993 Felix Mendelssohn Violin Concerto and other works with the Philharmonia Orchestra & Andrew Litton, RCA Red Seal

1993 Cesar Franck and Richard Strauss Sonatas, RCA Red Seal

1992 Max Bruch and Edouard Lalo Album with the RPO and Jesus Lopez-Cobos, RCA Red Seal

1989 Gabriel Faure & Camille Saint-Saens Album, Canyon Classics

1988 Debut Disc-Samuel Barber/Max Bruch Concertos with the RPO and Christopher Seaman, Canyon Classics

Television and advertising credits

Meyers' television credits include an A&E Networks telecast from the Casals Festival with the Montreal Symphony and Krzysztof Penderecki, a PBS broadcast with the Boston Pops Orchestra and John Williams and her appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and the "Emmy Award Show" attracted national attention. She was also featured performing with Keith Lockhart and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Holland that attracted an audience of 10,000 and was globally broadcast live on the Internet. She also performed in front of 750,000 people in Sydney, Australia's Harbour, celebrating their 250th Bicentennial. She has been featured in numerous print and television commercials (DDI,TDK,BS-1,Northwest Airlines) including being selected to be photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the Anne Klein “Women of Substance” fashion campaign that appeared in publications around the world.

External links

* [http://www.anneakikomeyers.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/aakikomeyers Myspace page]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anne+akiko+meyers&search_type=&aq=6&oq=anne+a Videos]
* [http://www.colbertartists.com Management]