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Edgar MeyerBiography
Prominently established as a unique and masterful double bassist, Edgar Meyer has an active career as both a performer and a composer. Hailed by the New Yorker as “...the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument,” Mr. Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the fore, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience. His uniqueness in the field was recognized by a MacArthur Award in 2002. Mr. Meyer’s most recent album is a self-titled solo recording on which he wrote and played all of the pieces on instruments including piano, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, gamba, and double bass. As a solo classical bassist, Mr. Meyer has released a concerto album with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra featuring Bottesini’s Gran Duo with Joshua Bell; Meyer’s Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma; Bottesini’s Bass Concerto No. 2 and Meyer’s Concerto in D for Bass. Just prior to that, he released an album with three of Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites for Cello. In the fall of 2007, Sony/BMG honored his remarkable artistry with a compilation disc featuring highlights of his nine award-winning recordings on the label, and several of his recordings were featured in The War, a recent documentary by renowned filmmaker Ken Burns. As a composer, Mr. Meyer has carved out a remarkable and unique niche in the musical world. In the 2006-2007 season, he premiered a triple concerto for double bass, banjo, and tabla (written and performed with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain) for the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, as well as a piece for double bass and piano performed with Emanuel Ax in New York, Washington, DC, and Nashville. During the 2005-2006 season, he premiered the revised version of his Double Bass Concerto No. 2 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and a piece for violin and piano performed by Joshua Bell at the Montalvo Arts Center and New York’s Lincoln Center. Mr. Meyer premiered his Double Bass Concerto No. 1 in 1993 with Edo de Waart and the Minnesota Orchestra, and in 1995, he premiered his Quintet for Bass and String Quartet in collaboration with the Emerson String Quartet, which was later recorded on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Also, in 1995, he premiered his Double Concerto for Bass and Cello, in collaboration with Carter Brey, cello and Jeffrey Kahane conducting the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Orchestra. Mr. Meyer has also performed with the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, featuring the premiere of one of his own works, the Meyer Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma. In October 1999, Mr. Meyer’s violin concerto written for violinist Hilary Hahn was premiered and recorded by Ms. Hahn with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra led by Hugh Wolff. |
