Edgar Meyer — Double Bass
Edgar Meyer has forged a role in the music world unlike any other, acclaimed both as a virtuoso double bassist and an award-winning composer. The New Yorker hailed him as “the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument,” and his rare combination of instrumental mastery and creative vision was recognized with a MacArthur Award in 2002.
As a solo classical bassist, Meyer has recorded concertos with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra under Hugh Wolff, featuring Bottesini’s Gran Duo with Joshua Bell, his own Double Concerto for Bass and Cello with Yo-Yo Ma, Bottesini’s Concerto No. 2, and his Concerto in D for Bass. His discography also includes Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites (transcribed for bass) and a wide-ranging 2006 solo album on which he performed all parts himself. In 2011, he joined Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, and Stuart Duncan for The Goat Rodeo Sessions (Sony Masterworks), which won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
As a composer, Meyer has created a distinctive body of work that bridges genres. His Double Concerto for Double Bass and Violin, written for Joshua Bell, premiered with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in 2012, and has since been performed at the Hollywood Bowl, the Aspen Music Festival, and by the Nashville and Toronto symphony orchestras. His Concerto for Double Bass and Orchestra No. 3 was premiered during his 2011–12 residency with the Alabama Symphony. Meyer also collaborated with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain on a Triple Concerto for Double Bass, Banjo, and Tabla, commissioned for the opening of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville and later recorded with the Detroit Symphony under Leonard Slatkin.
Other major works include a Violin Concerto for Hilary Hahn, premiered and recorded with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; a Double Concerto for Bass and Cello, premiered with Yo-Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa; a quintet for bass and string quartet written for the Emerson String Quartet (recorded on Deutsche Grammophon); and numerous chamber and solo works performed by Joshua Bell and other leading artists.
Collaborations are central to Meyer’s career. His long-standing partnership with Chris Thile produced multiple acclaimed recordings on Nonesuch Records, and the duo has toured extensively across the United States. His wide-ranging projects also include a duo with Béla Fleck; a quartet with Joshua Bell, Sam Bush, and Mike Marshall; a trio with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall; and a celebrated trio with Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O’Connor. Their 1996 recording Appalachia Waltz topped the charts for 16 weeks and led to extensive tours across the U.S. The follow-up, Appalachian Journey (2000), received a Grammy Award. Other notable collaborations include premieres with Emanuel Ax, duo recitals with Amy Dorfman, and a trio with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain, which has toured the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Meyer began studying bass at the age of five with his father and later trained with Stuart Sankey. He received the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994 and became the only bassist ever to win the Avery Fisher Prize (2000). He is currently Visiting Professor of Double Bass at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
With more than 220 world premieres to his credit, Edgar Meyer continues to expand the expressive possibilities of the double bass while reaching audiences across classical, folk, and contemporary traditions.