Anne Akiko Meyers is on a Roll: With 3 New Albums and 3 High-profile Features, the Violinist Continues to Celebrate Contemporary Music
Anne Akiko Meyers is on the cover of the July 2025 issue of Gramophone, and she's featured on NPR and on The Strad in June.
“Working with living composers deeply inspires me and I am so grateful to them for creating new sound worlds and repertoire for the violin literature. Audiences really connect to music written by living composers and appreciate authentic storytelling in the works I have commissioned and premiered.” — Anne Akiko Meyers
Meyers on the cover of the July 2025 issue of Gramophone.
Violinist extraordinaire Anne Akiko Meyers released three new albums this spring, including an album devoted to Philip Glass, with the iconic composer’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and the world premiere recoding of his New Chaconne, composed for Meyers. She gave the world premiere in 2024 at the Laguna Beach Music Festival in southern California, where she was serving as artistic director. She was joined by Emmanuel Ceysson, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal harp, who also performs with Meyers on the new recording. “When it was sent to me, I just couldn't believe it," Meyers told NPR this month. “This is for the canon of violin literature, and it will live on forever.”
In May, Beloved was released (both albums on the Platoon label); it is a collection of choral and orchestral works centered on In the Arms of the Beloved, a requiem by the jazz pianist and composer Billy Childs written in memory of his mother. Meyers recorded it with the Los Angeles Master Chorale under Grant Gershon. The album also features music by Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjeilo, expanding Meyers’s ongoing exploration of repertoire that bridges spiritual reflection and expressive clarity.
Finally, Blue Electra appeared in April on Naxos, with the world premiere recording of Michael Daugherty’s violin concerto of that name, inspired by the life of aviator Amelia Earhart. Another Meyers commission.
“Meyers remains unflaggingly committed to commissioning and learning new works for her instrument – a dedication reflected not only in her extensive discography, but also in the vitality she brings to her concerts, ensuring that the pieces she commissions continue to be heard well beyond their premieres,” writes Tom May for the cover story of the July 2025 issue of Gramophone.
Meyers stopped by NPR's studios in Culver City, Calif., for an interview with Morning Edition's A Martínez (credit: Melissa Kuypers)
And there’s more to come. The violinist plans to release a fourth new album later this year or early next: a recording of Orchard in Fog, a 2017 concerto for violin that she commissioned from the American composer Adam Schoenberg and premiered in 2018 with the San Diego Symphony and conductor Sameer Patel. The piece is a musical response to a photograph by Adam Laipson of an apple orchard in winter, explains May in his feature-length piece.
“Anne is really the only superstar soloist I know who believes in expanding the repertoire and consistently does that,” Schoenberg told May. “Besides touring the world and releasing so many albums, I think that’s going to be the greatest part of her legacy.”
“There’s always an element of risk in creative work, and I think that’s part of what keeps it exciting and meaningful,” Meyers told The Strad. “For me, the trust involved in these collaborations is deeply personal and essential.”
In Meyers’s own words: “Working with living composers deeply inspires me and I am so grateful to them for creating new sound worlds and repertoire for the violin literature,” she told The Strad. “Audiences really connect to music written by living composers and appreciate authentic storytelling in the works I have commissioned and premiered.”
San Francisco Classical Voice: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Takes Music Into Her Own Hands
Already a seasoned performer at age 11, when she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, now 53, is still riding high. A champion of contemporary composers, she has also collaborated with today’s most celebrated conductors, orchestras, and presenters.
Next weekend, Feb. 16–18, Meyers takes the reins of the Laguna Beach Music Festival as this year’s artistic director, performing in three programs, the first of which features works by Arvo Pärt and Heitor Villa-Lobos, as well as a world premiere by Philip Glass. Hailed as “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad magazine, the violinist was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for her live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil of Arturo Márquez’s concerto Fandango, written for her in 2021.
Born in San Diego, Meyers began violin lessons with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Community School of Performing Arts (now the Colburn School) before moving to New York at age 14 to study at The Juilliard School with the legendary teacher Dorothy DeLay. Just four years later, Meyers recorded her debut album, which featured concertos by Samuel Barber and Max Bruch, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios.
San Francisco Classical Voice
By Victoria Looseleaf
Already a seasoned performer at age 11, when she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, now 53, is still riding high. A champion of contemporary composers, she has also collaborated with today’s most celebrated conductors, orchestras, and presenters.
Next weekend, Feb. 16–18, Meyers takes the reins of the Laguna Beach Music Festival as this year’s artistic director, performing in three programs, the first of which features works by Arvo Pärt and Heitor Villa-Lobos, as well as a world premiere by Philip Glass. Hailed as “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad magazine, the violinist was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for her live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil of Arturo Márquez’s concerto Fandango, written for her in 2021.
Born in San Diego, Meyers began violin lessons with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Community School of Performing Arts (now the Colburn School) before moving to New York at age 14 to study at The Juilliard School with the legendary teacher Dorothy DeLay. Just four years later, Meyers recorded her debut album, which featured concertos by Samuel Barber and Max Bruch, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios.
Read more here.
BBC Music Magazine: Amelia Earhart: how the tragic story of the aviation pioneer inspired a thrilling new violin concerto for Anne Akiko Meyers
Legendary adventurer and feminist icon Amelia Earhart set two world records in 1932 – flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 15 hours, becoming the first woman and only the second person in history to do so; and subsequently flying non-stop across the US, again the first time a woman had achieved the feat.
These magnificent records made Earhart an instant worldwide sensation. Independent and adventurous since childhood, she knew on her very first flight in December 1920 with experienced pilot Frank Hawks that her place was in the air. ‘As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly,’ she revealed.
BBC Music Magazine
By Charlotte Smith
Legendary adventurer and feminist icon Amelia Earhart set two world records in 1932 – flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 15 hours, becoming the first woman and only the second person in history to do so; and subsequently flying non-stop across the US, again the first time a woman had achieved the feat.
These magnificent records made Earhart an instant worldwide sensation. Independent and adventurous since childhood, she knew on her very first flight in December 1920 with experienced pilot Frank Hawks that her place was in the air. ‘As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly,’ she revealed.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
KUSC: Classical Californians: Anne Akiko Meyers
This week, our Classical Californian will be violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who will share some of her favorite pieces of music. The playlist includes two composers who have written concertos for her, some selections from the world of movie music, as well as works by a pair of composers best known for their writing for choral voices. The Southern California native has most recently released a recording of Fandango by Arturo Márquez, with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s worked with a who’s who of contemporary composers, and since making her first national TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when she was 11, she’s been performing to admiring audiences around the world. The instrument that she plays, the “Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù” dates from 1741, and belonged to the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps in the 1800s.
KUSC
This week, our Classical Californian will be violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who will share some of her favorite pieces of music. The playlist includes two composers who have written concertos for her, some selections from the world of movie music, as well as works by a pair of composers best known for their writing for choral voices. The Southern California native has most recently released a recording of Fandango by Arturo Márquez, with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s worked with a who’s who of contemporary composers, and since making her first national TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when she was 11, she’s been performing to admiring audiences around the world. The instrument that she plays, the “Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù” dates from 1741, and belonged to the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps in the 1800s.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Dina Douglass
NPR: Anne Akiko Meyers: Tiny Desk Concert
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half expected her to be flanked by bodyguards. After all, she was carrying a very rare instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù "Vieuxtemps" violin, built in 1741, is worth at least $16 million. Instead, Meyers arrived only with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She seemed nonchalant about the fact that her fiddle is worth a fortune.
What matters, naturally, is how the instrument sounds and few can make a violin sing as sweetly as Meyers. The San Diego native was already performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11. Three years later she enrolled in New York's Juilliard School and at 18 cut the first of her 40-some albums.
NPR
By Tom Huizenga
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half expected her to be flanked by bodyguards. After all, she was carrying a very rare instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù "Vieuxtemps" violin, built in 1741, is worth at least $16 million. Instead, Meyers arrived only with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She seemed nonchalant about the fact that her fiddle is worth a fortune.
What matters, naturally, is how the instrument sounds and few can make a violin sing as sweetly as Meyers. The San Diego native was already performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11. Three years later she enrolled in New York's Juilliard School and at 18 cut the first of her 40-some albums.
Read more here or watch below.
San Francisco Classical Voice: Anne Akiko Meyers Brings Fandango to Symphony San José
Symphony San José’s concert on May 6 at the California Theatre featured Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist in Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s new violin concerto, Fandango. Meyers requested the work from Márquez and gave the first performance, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in August 2021. Since then, she has been taking the piece around on her guest appearances.
So it’s fortunate that when San José’s intended guest conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, withdrew for personal reasons less than two weeks before the concert, the Symphony was able to secure José Luis Gómez, music director of the Tucson Symphony, as a replacement. He had conducted Meyers in this same concerto in a Tucson program last September.
San Francisco Classical Voice
By David Bratman
Symphony San José’s concert on May 6 at the California Theatre featured Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist in Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s new violin concerto, Fandango. Meyers requested the work from Márquez and gave the first performance, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in August 2021. Since then, she has been taking the piece around on her guest appearances.
So it’s fortunate that when San José’s intended guest conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, withdrew for personal reasons less than two weeks before the concert, the Symphony was able to secure José Luis Gómez, music director of the Tucson Symphony, as a replacement. He had conducted Meyers in this same concerto in a Tucson program last September.
Meyers had been inspired to approach Márquez after hearing the composer’s Danzón No. 2, a boundlessly joyful expression of the character of Veracruz’s dance music that’s become something of a signature piece for Dudamel. Meyers hoped that Márquez could import something of the same spirit into a violin concerto. It turned out that the composer, whose father was a mariachi violinist, had already been thinking along those lines.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Allen Murabayashi
The Washington Post: NSO’s ‘Wind & Wave’ celebrates the sea, but ignores the tide
This guy right here loves a theme. When orchestras build a night of music around a central idea — be it a topic, a color, an era, a season — it offers listeners a comfy couch of context that allows us to settle in and feel situated. Having a theme also allows us to hear pieces of music in fresh dialogue with one another.
More to the point of this review, sometimes a theme just provides a good enough excuse to invite old friends over for a party, as was the case with the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Wind & Wave” concert on Thursday (repeating Friday and Saturday nights). This sea-and-sky-inspired selection brought together works from Richard Wagner (the overture to “Der fliegende Holländer”), Samuel Barber (“Night Flight”) and Claude Debussy (“La Mer”).
The Washington Post
By Michael Andor Brodeur
The National Symphony Orchestra’s sea-and-sky themed program features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in a world premiere by Michael Daugherty
This guy right here loves a theme. When orchestras build a night of music around a central idea — be it a topic, a color, an era, a season — it offers listeners a comfy couch of context that allows us to settle in and feel situated. Having a theme also allows us to hear pieces of music in fresh dialogue with one another.
More to the point of this review, sometimes a theme just provides a good enough excuse to invite old friends over for a party, as was the case with the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Wind & Wave” concert on Thursday (repeating Friday and Saturday nights). This sea-and-sky-inspired selection brought together works from Richard Wagner (the overture to “Der fliegende Holländer”), Samuel Barber (“Night Flight”) and Claude Debussy (“La Mer”).
Read more here.
Photo Credits: Jati Lindsay
Strings: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Continues Passionate Advocacy of New Music with Recent Concerto Commission Inspired by Amelia Earhart
For a good two decades, Anne Akiko Meyers has made it a hallmark of her artistic mission to expand the literature for her instrument by inviting living composers to write something new—and then championing the results with total commitment. It’s an undertaking not recommended for the risk averse. While playing the mainstream repertoire entails having a tradition to fall back on whenever doubts arise, being the first to introduce a composition to the public can resemble setting out on a tightrope walk without a safety net.
This intrepid attitude makes Meyers an ideal advocate for Michael Daugherty’s new violin concerto, Blue Electra, which is inspired by the legacy of the boldly adventurous aviatrix Amelia Earhart. From November 10–12 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Meyers will give the work its world premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra led by Gianandrea Noseda.
Strings Magazine
By Thomas May
November-December 2022 issue of Strings Magazine
For a good two decades, Anne Akiko Meyers has made it a hallmark of her artistic mission to expand the literature for her instrument by inviting living composers to write something new—and then championing the results with total commitment. It’s an undertaking not recommended for the risk averse. While playing the mainstream repertoire entails having a tradition to fall back on whenever doubts arise, being the first to introduce a composition to the public can resemble setting out on a tightrope walk without a safety net.
This intrepid attitude makes Meyers an ideal advocate for Michael Daugherty’s new violin concerto, Blue Electra, which is inspired by the legacy of the boldly adventurous aviatrix Amelia Earhart. From November 10–12 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Meyers will give the work its world premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra led by Gianandrea Noseda.
Read more here.
Photo Credits: Molina Visuals (Top); Kaupo Kikkas (Cover)
Strings: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Looks to the Stars on New Album ‘Shining Night’
It started with verse. Virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ latest album, Shining Night (Avie), is based on a poem by the late American writer James Agee and describes a man going on a walk and thinking back over his life. “That scenario inspired this collection of pieces that metaphorically begins in the morning and explores the vast musical history through Baroque, Romantic, popular, and current genres,” she notes. “The common themes throughout the music reflect on one’s relationship with nature, love, and poetry.”
Strings Magazine
By Greg Cahill
It started with verse. Virtuoso violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ latest album, Shining Night (Avie), is based on a poem by the late American writer James Agee and describes a man going on a walk and thinking back over his life. “That scenario inspired this collection of pieces that metaphorically begins in the morning and explores the vast musical history through Baroque, Romantic, popular, and current genres,” she notes. “The common themes throughout the music reflect on one’s relationship with nature, love, and poetry.”
In keeping with the stunningly beautiful album’s starry theme, Shining Night was released on May 7—International Astronomy Day. "When I visited Wyoming recently, my family and I went stargazing,” Meyers explains.
Read more here.
Gramophone: Anne Akiko Meyers on her new album, 'Shining Night'
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers's new album, 'Shining Night' takes listeners on a musical journey through the passing of a day - via Villa-Lobos, Bach, Leo Brouwer and even Elvis - and features a number of duets with guitarist Jason Vieaux.
Gramophone
The violinist offers a musical journey through the day, much of it in the company of guitarist Jason Vieaux
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers's new album, 'Shining Night' takes listeners on a musical journey through the passing of a day - via Villa-Lobos, Bach, Leo Brouwer and even Elvis - and features a number of duets with guitarist Jason Vieaux. She talks to Gramophone's Editor Martin Cullingford about how she developed this wonderful programme.
Read more here.