Anne Akiko Meyers
May 15, 1970
San Diego, California, United States
New York City
Classical
Violinist
Violin
1985–present
Meyers received a Grammy Award nomination for her live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the L.A. Philharmonic of Arturo Márquez’s Fandango,a new concerto for violin and orchestra written for her.[3]
She appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk on September 7, 2023.
Meyers was the top-selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts.[4][5]
In 2024, Meyers 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]
Early life and education[edit]
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.
She then studied with Josef Gingold at Indiana University, and with Dorothy DeLay, Felix Galimir, and Masao Kawasaki at the Juilliard School in New York City. She graduated from Juilliard at age 20 and began touring internationally and recording.[7]
Early career[edit]
Described as a child prodigy after her debut with a local community orchestra at the age of 7, she subsequently performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, twice on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11,[8] the Emmy Award Show and the New York Philharmonic at age 12.[7]
When she was 16, Meyers signed with ICM Artists and began touring and recording. She recorded her first album in London at the Abbey Road Studios, featuring the Barber and Bruch Concertos with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. After signing an RCA Victor Red Seal contract at the age of 21, she recorded an extensive discography.
Instruments[edit]
Meyers has lifetime use of the 1741 Vieuxtemps Guarneri "del Gesu".[9] She previously toured with a 1730 Stradivarius violin called the Royal Spanish,[10] and a 1697 Stradivarius called the Molitor Stradivarius.[11] 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."[12]
Awards and honors[edit]
In 1993 at the age of 23, Meyers received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, which is awarded by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to up to five promising young artists each year.[58][59]
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.[60]
In late 2009, Meyers joined the Butler School of Music at University of Texas at Austin as Distinguished Artist and Professor of Violin.[61]
In September 2015, she was honored with a Luminary Award by the Pasadena Symphony for her long-standing support of that orchestra.[62]
In December 2022, Meyers was named a new trustee of The Juilliard School alongside singer songwriter Jon Batiste.[63]
In 2023, Meyers received an honorary doctorate from the Colburn School.[64]