Photo of Anne Akiko Meyers by Dina Douglass
This week, our Classical Californian will be violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who will share some of her favorite pieces of music. The playlist includes two composers who have written concertos for her, some selections from the world of movie music, as well as works by a pair of composers best known for their writing for choral voices. The Southern California native has most recently released a recording of Fandango by Arturo Márquez, with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s worked with a who’s who of contemporary composers, and since making her first national TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when she was 11, she’s been performing to admiring audiences around the world. The instrument that she plays, the “Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù” dates from 1741, and belonged to the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps in the 1800s.
Her selections begin with a concerto written for her by Mason Bates – press the play button to hear her audio introduction. (Note, the video below features the Detroit Symphony Orchestra):
For the first of several choices from the world of film scores, she went with music by John Williams:
Anne Akiko Meyers’ most recently released recording, Fandango, is a concerto written for her by Arturo Márquez – this is the piece that inspired her to ask him for it…
A choral work next, by LA-based composer Eric Whitacre…
And another composer who specializes in choral works, Morten Lauridsen, with an arrangement of his piece “Dirait-On” for violin and piano. (Anne Akiko Meyers is joined by pianist Fabio Bidini).
A piece pulled from another film, The Truman Show, with a cameo by composer Philip Glass…
And to close her selections, a classic from 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, sung by Judy Garland.
