The database of double bass players

Edgar Meyer Prominently established as a unique and masterful instrumentalist, Grammy Award winner Edgar Meyer delights his audiences both as double bassist virtuoso and composer. Hailed by The New Yorker as, “... the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument,” Meyer’s unparalled 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. Meyer’s latest recording for Sony Classical, with which he is an exclusive artist, not only introduces him as a concerto soloist but confirms the acclaim he has been winning as a composer. It features the recording premieres of his own Concerto for Cello and Double Bass (1993) and his Concerto for Double Bass (1995), as well as two works by the early Romantic bass virtuoso/composer Giovanni Bottesini – the Concerto No. 2 in B Minor for Double Bass and Orchestra, and the Gran Duo Concertante, a work for violin, double bass and orchestra. Meyer is the principal soloist on the recording, joined by two of his most frequent collaborators – cellist Yo-Yo Ma in the Double Concerto and violinist Joshua Bell in the Gran Duo Concertante. Hugh Wolff conducts the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra on the recording, which is released in May. Also available from Sony Classical is Meyer’s recording of his own transcriptions of J.S. Bach’s Unaccompanied Suites for Cello. Fruitful collaborations are a cornerstone of Meyer’s work. In February, he shared in two Grammy Awards for Sony Classical’s Perpetual Motion, a recording that showcases the banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck in original classical arrangements. A year earlier, Meyer shared the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Recording for Appalachian Journey, reuniting him with Ma and violinist Mark O’Connor, his collaborators on the best selling Appalachia Waltz. Meyer was a nominee for the same award in 2000 for Short Trip Home, a Sony Classical recording on which he led a quartet made up of violinist Joshua Bell and legendary bluegrass musicians Sam Bush and Mike Marshall. The group explored a unique fusion of classical and bluegrass musical styles, giving their first performances were in June of 1998 at the Aspen Music Festival and at Indiana University. They made their New York debut with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in addition to an extensive North American tour. Shortly before this collaboration, Meyer was involved in an inventive trio project with Béla Fleck on banjo and Mike Marshall on mandolin, performing original compositions marrying bluegrass, classical and other traditional styles. In October 1997, the Fleck/Marshall/Meyer trio opened the 1997-98 season of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in conjunction with the release of the Sony Classical disc, Uncommon Ritual. Earlier in Meyer’s career, from 1986-1992, he was a member of the band Strength in Numbers, whose members included Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, and Mark O’Connor. Meyer also works with pianist Amy Dorfman, his longtime accompanist for solo recitals, featuring both classical repertoire and his own compositions. To further explore his interests in af variety of musical genres, Meyer’s vast musical interests have also led him to be a widely sought after guest bass player for an assortment of recording artists, such as Garth Brooks, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Hank Williams, Jr., Emmylou Harris, James Taylor, Lyle Lovett, T-Bone Burnett, Reba McIntyre, the Indigo Girls, Travis Tritt and The Chieftains. As a Sony Classical artist, Meyer and his colleagues Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’ Connor won wide acclaim with the release of Appalachia Waltz, which soared to the top of the charts and remained there for 16 weeks. Appalachia Waltz toured extensively in the U.S., and the trio was featured both on Late Night with David Letterman and the televised 1997 Inaugural Gala. Joining with Ma and O’Connor for a second time, Appalachian Journey, the follow-up to Appalachia Waltz, was released in March 2000. This time, their tour took them not only to major venues across the U.S. but also to Europe and parts of Asia. In October 1999, Edgar Meyer’s Violin Concerto – written for violinist Hilary Hahn – had its premiered and was recorded by Hahn for Sony Classical, with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, led by Hugh Wolff. Meyer began studying bass at the age of five under the instruction of his father, and continued further to study with Stuart Sankey. He is the winner of numerous competitions. In 1994 he became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. Meyer premiered his Concerto for Double Bass in 1993 with Edo de Waart and the Minnesota Orchestra and, in 1995, his Quintet for Bass and String Quartet in collaboration with the Emerson String Quartet. Also, in 1995, he premiered the Double Concerto for Bass and Cello, in collaboration with cellist Carter Brey and Jeffrey Kahane conducting the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival Orchestra. Meyer made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut with Seiji Ozawa conducting, in a performance of his Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Ma. A frequent guest at music festivals, Meyer has appeared as performer and composer at Aspen, Tanglewood, Caramoor, Chamber Music Northwest, and Marlboro. At the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival, he was a regular guest from 1985-1993, and composed six works for the festival during that time. In 1994, Meyer joined the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and continues to perform regularly with this ensemble. Currently, he is also Visiting Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Academy of Music.