Anne Akiko Meyers

The daughter of an artist and a college president, Meyers was born in California. Her mother is of Japanese descent, and her father Jewish.[3] Raised in Southern California, she studied with Shirley Helmick, and then with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

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. Graduating from Juilliard at age 20, she began touring internationally and recording.[4]

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,[5] the Emmy Award Show and the New York Philharmonic at age 12.[4] 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.

Meyers has lifetime use of the 1741 Vieuxtemps Guarneri "del Gesu".[6] She previously toured with a 1730 Stradivarius violin called the Royal Spanish,[7] and a 1697 Stradivarius called the Molitor Stradivarius.[8] 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."[9]

Meyers has performed as guest soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Symphony, and Orchestre de Paris.[10] She also has played solo recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and Lincoln Center.[11]

Meyers collaborated with the singer Michael Bolton.[12] She was also the special guest violinist in Il Divo's Christmas Tour 2009[13] and toured with jazz and pop trumpeter Chris Botti in 2010.[14] On September 11, 2015, Naïve Classiques released "Passacaglia" Works for violin and orchestra by Arvo Pärt with MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (Kristjan Jarvi conducting), in celebration of Pärt's 80th birthday.

The Engagements written by novelist J. Courtney Sullivan is loosely based on Meyers's career; it was one of People Magazine's Top 10 Books of the Year in 2014.[15] Meyers also played the violinist character, Violetta, in Crumpet the Trumpet by children's book author and illustrator, Kristine Papillon.[16] Meyers’ recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Fantasia was the only classical instrumental work included by NPR in their list of 100 best songs of 2017.[17]

The following releases feature Meyers on violin.[35][36]

• Vivaldi Triple Concerto – Anne Akiko Meyers Performs all 3 Parts[44]
• Summer from Vivaldi's Four Seasons[45]
• Winter from Vivaldi's Four Seasons[46]
• On the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11[47]

In 1993 at the age of 23, Meyers was the sole recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, which is awarded by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts to up to five promising young artists each year.[48][49]

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.[50]

In late 2009, Meyers joined the Butler School of Music at University of Texas at Austin as Distinguished Artist and Professor of Violin.[51]

In September 2015, she was honored with a Luminary Award by the Pasadena Symphony for her long-standing support of that orchestra.[52]

Meyers lives with her husband and two daughters in Los Angeles, California.[53]

• Official website
• Colbert Artists page for Anne Akiko Meyers