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February 17,
2005
Longtime violinist in tune with the world
By Karen Lindell, Ventura
County Star, CA
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers likes to talk about fire.
She describes her violin, which was made in 1850, as "a fabulous
projecting instrument, like a heat-seeking missile."
Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major, which she'll play this
weekend with the New West Symphony, is "full of fireworks,"
Meyers said.
But she's not one for ashes.
"I am not of the ilk to shut myself off from the living,
breathing world," she said. "People who do 150 concerts a year
-- I can't fathom what they're trying to accomplish other than
absolute burnout."
Meyers, who plays about 60 concerts each year worldwide, will
return to her native Southern California to perform with the New
West Symphony on Friday and Saturday.
Even though Meyers is only 34, she's already had a 30-year
career as a violinist -- a career that's still hot.
Meyers started violin lessons at age 4, learning at first via
the Suzuki method, which emphasizes group instruction. "Prodigy"
was probably on everyone's mind after Meyers' first lesson. The
teacher gave the students a piece to learn at home, and Meyers
not only memorized it in one night, she played it perfectly.
Meyers entered the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los
Angeles at age 8 to study with Alice Schoenfeld. When other
11-year-olds were picking up a violin for the first time in
school music programs, Meyers was performing as a soloist with
the L.A. Philharmonic -- and chatting with Johnny Carson.
As a member of the Angels Ensemble of California (a string
quartet of young virtuosos), Meyers appeared on "The Tonight
Show." (Carson was "so clever, yet so gentle and warm," Meyers
recalled.)
At 14 she moved to the Midwest to study with string legend Josef
Gingold at Indiana University, then accepted a scholarship the
following year to attend Juilliard, where she studied with
Dorothy DeLay.
The talent management companies soon came calling. Meyers signed
with ICM at age 16 and released her debut album, featuring the
Barber violin concerto, at 18 -- two years before graduating
from Juilliard.
A prodigy grows up
Meyers, who was born in San Diego and now lives in New York,
said the prodigy label no longer fits. "That term really applies
to children," she said. "I had an uncanny ability to play the
violin, but it took a lot of effort to keep it going, to refine
my craft."
Refinement earned her yet another accolade: In 1993 she was the
sole winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1993, a
prestigious $10,000 prize awarded each year to instrumentalists
with the potential for successful solo careers.
The panel of experts that selected her for the grant was
clairvoyant about her career.
Meyers has performed and toured with prestigious orchestras
whose names create an around-the-world itinerary, among them the
New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony, Berlin Radio
Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony, Moscow Philharmonic, Jerusalem
Symphony, Vienna Symphony and Singapore Symphony.
She's released more than 10 albums, most recently a CD for the
Avie label featuring works by French and Japanese composers,
including "Birds in Warped Time II" by composer Somei Satoh.
At the Kennedy Center in 2001, she premiered "Angelfire" by
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Joseph Schwantner.
"In a perfect world," Meyers said, instead of always playing the
standard violin repertoire, she'd like more chances to introduce
audiences to new works by living composers. "But ticket sales
are measured by popularity," she said. "People comfortable with
the Mendelssohn concerto are more likely to buy a ticket."
She's not complaining, however. Among her favorite works to
perform are the classic violin concertos by Barber and
Prokofiev.
Intricate concerto
The Tchaikovsky concerto that she'll play with New West was
composed 127 years ago. "Very few people could play it back then
because it was so incredibly difficult," she said. "It's nonstop
hurdles, leaps and bounds -- like doing 17,000 triple axels."
The first movement, which clocks in at 20 minutes, seems like a
full concerto itself, she said; the entire piece lasts 45
minutes. "You're going to get every type of emotion. It's
incredibly romantic, lush and dynamic," Meyers said.
She's mastered the emotional expression, in part because her
life, which influences her music, isn't merely about mastering
technique.
"The more you feed your soul, the more interesting your music
will be," said Meyers, noting that in her spare time she loves
doing "everything -- cooking, reading, hiking, being in
museums."
An Anne Klein ad offers evidence that Meyers' life is more than
music. Several years ago, Meyers, along with opera singer Renee
Fleming, actress Bebe Neuwirth, basketball player Lesa Leslie
and other notable women, posed for famed photographer Annie
Leibovitz in a "Women of Substance" advertising campaign.
"The classical world is very conservative," said Meyers,
describing her decision to do the photo shoot. "It's nice to
shake your hair a little bit. I'm a young woman who's done music
for a long time, but it's just one of many facets of me."
It's those facets that keep setting off the fireworks. |
