American violinist Anne Akiko Meyers has become a major star of classical music lauded for performances with the great orchestras of the world and a series of recordings that put her at the top of Billboard's bestselling classical instrumentalists in 2014. She was celebrated for two albums that year, 'Four Seasons - The Vivaldi Album' and 'The American Masters'. The Vivaldi release, which features the composer's 'Triple Concerto', peaked at number four on Billboard's Classical Albums Chart. The second album, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin, included two world premieres - 'Violin Concerto' by Mason Bates and 'Lullaby for Natalie' by John Corigliano - plus Samuel Barber's 'Violin Concerto'. It went to number nine on the chart. Known for championing contemporary composers, she has also collaborated with artists such as Wynton Marsalis and Michael Bolton and made several television appearances.
Born in Southern California to an academic family, she learned to play the violin as a child and by the age of 12 she had performed with the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, appeared on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson' and the Emmy Awards telecast. She attended Indiana University and the Julliard School in New York City and made her recording debut in 1989 with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Christopher Seaman on 'Barber Violin Concerto/Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1', which was recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios. Several albums followed but the first to place on the Billboard Classical Albums Chart was 'Smile' which went to number 31 in 2009. 'Seasons... Dreams', with Reiko Uchida on piano and Emmanuel Ceysson on harp, reached number 13 in 2010 and 'Air: The Bach Album', with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Steven Mercurio, peaked at number two. 'Serenade: The Love Album', with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart, went to number 13.
Her latest release, 'Fantasia' with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Kristjan Jarvi and featuring works by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Karol Szymanowski and Maurice Ravel, was released in October 2017. She premiered the Rautavaara piece with the Kansas City Symphony conducted by Michael Stern earlier in the year. She also performed in several US states and toured New Zealand, Poland and Colombia. Concert dates set for 2018 include venues in Germany, California, Michigan and Arizona where she will premiere the Adam Schoenberg Violin Concerto with the Phoenix Symphony conducted by Tito Muñoz.
