Composer And Violist Jessica Meyer to Tour the US This Spring

Jessica Meyer is an award-winning composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility and emotional clarity.

Highlights of her upcoming Spring 2023 season include the highly-anticipated world premiere of her Spirits and Sinew by Hub New Music at nienteForte in New Orleans on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 7:30pm, followed by performances at the Celebrity Series of Boston on Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 3:00pm and the Canadian premiere at NUMUS Music Series in Ontario on Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 8:00pm. Meyer's Spirits and Sinew is part of an ambitious commissioning project celebrating Hub New Music's 10th anniversary that spans 2023 and 2024. Newly commissioned works will include contributions by today's most celebrated composers, including Meyer, Marcos Balter, Donnacha Dennehy, Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, Andrew Norman, and Tyshawn Sorey.

Hub New Music's Founder and Artistic Director Michael Avitabile says, "Hub is so thrilled to premiere Jessica Meyer's Spirits and Sinew in New Orleans in March. Jessica has been a long time friend and colleague, and having her work be part of the ensemble's 10th anniversary celebration is so meaningful to us. With its rich orchestration and fiery virtuosity, the piece feels tailor-made for Hub, and we can't wait to bring it to life with nienteForte next month!"

Sharing about the program note for Spirits and Sinew, Meyer said, "I have loved New Orleans since the first time I visited. Throughout the city, there resides the palpable energy of both the living and the dead. Last time I was there, I took a walking tour and discovered some pretty spooky local stories about violence, ghosts, fires, and Voodoo. I was also fascinated to learn about Marie Laveau and the services she provided: she was a dedicated practitioner of Voodoo, healer, herbalist, and entrepreneur. Laveau was also known as a prominent female religious leader and community activist. My narrative for this piece explores a haunting, finding a way to be healed, and an 'exorcism' of sorts - a pattern that can be found in many stories about New Orleans. The work also serves as a metaphor for the patterns that we keep subconsciously replaying in our own lives, and the hope that we can love ourselves enough to finally conquer the demons that haunt us."

NOVUS NY will perform Meyer's In the Waves (2022) at Trinity Wall St. Concerts at One on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 1:00pm. Commissioned by the NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists in Connecticut, In the Waves was inspired by the Gauguin painting of the same name displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Art, which Meyer saw shortly after hearing the Cleveland Orchestra play Debussy's "La Mer." She says, "Both resonated with me deeply, because the ocean is a major source of energy for me. The plaque next to the painting says this work of art is 'a metaphor for a modern European woman forsaking civilization and abandoning herself to her natural, primitive instincts.' Since how society is currently functioning makes less and less sense to me, most days I feel like doing what the woman in the painting is doing...taking action and surrounding herself only with what is beautiful, necessary, and true. I imagine this music capturing the moments that take place right before she flings herself into the sea."

The Dorian Wind Quintet will premiere Meyer's Avenue of the Giants at ArtsLIVE in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, April 16 at 8:00pm with a pre-concert talk with the composer about her new work before the performance. Avenue of the Giants is a piece about our family trip to see the Redwood Forest in 2021. Meyer shares, "Lined by titan trees, the 31-mile Avenue parallels Highway 101 and has been called the finest forest drive in the world. After getting out and exploring, I learned about the ecosystem specific to the Redwoods. This work explores the various cycles of destruction and renewal that exist within the grandeur of these majestic trees and the feelings experienced when among them." The next day, the University of Dayton will present an Evening of Music by Jessica Meyer, featuring Meyer in works for the viola and loop pedal, in addition to faculty members performing selected works for chamber ensemble.

In two shows on Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 7:30 at St. Philip Neri Church and Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 7:30pm at Lewis & Clark College, the Portland Youth Philharmonic and professional female vocal octet In Mulieribus will perform the world premiere of Meyer's Because I Will Not Despair, featuring the poetry of Alicia Jo Rabins at the St. Philip Neri Church in Portland. Meyer dedicates the new work to anyone who needs a reminder of feeling empowered, especially at a time when women are still being questioned and devalued on a daily basis.She recalled the vivid memories of her encounter with Alicia Jo Rabins for the first time, "It was on a plane ride home from Portland in 2013 when I wrote my third looper piece, and after that the flood gates swung open and I knew I was supposed to be a composer. On that very trip, I met Alicia Jo Rabins, a cool violinist/poet/singer/songwriter that I somehow knew would be part of my life down the line. Fast forward five years and I am using some of her poetry, alongside other fierce female living poets, to create my first evening length show, And She. Fast forward another five years, and her words are the basis of this work."

Sharing about her inspiration behind the new work, Meyer says, "I really resonate with the perspective Alicia writes from: being a woman, a mother, a wife, a community builder, a spiritual being, and a creator. Her imagery is already visceral, so it made my job easy to set her words to music. Interestingly, I have been in the midst of my own active healing since last summer, so setting this particular text at this juncture was quite timely and indeed very cathartic."

Meyer will perform as a featured soloist in the world premiere of her own GAEA: Concerto for Amplified Viola and Chamber Orchestra on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 8:00pm, commissioned and performed by the Orchestra of the League of Composers at Columbia University's Miller Theatre in New York. For her new work, Meyer took inspiration from the Greek mythology of Gaea, sharing, "When I started writing for myself and loop pedal after years of performing acoustic contemporary music, I discovered an entire vocabulary of fragile colors and expressive sounds simply because I was amplified. This concerto for amplified viola that marries the wealth of colors and gestures spectral composers have developed throughout the 20th century, while also incorporating the virtuosity of baroque string playing, to tell the story of Gaea."

She further adds, "I have wanted to write a viola concerto for myself for some time now. The biggest challenge for any violist is the constant struggle to acoustically compete with more 'dimensionally correct' instruments like the violin and cello. It has long been known that if the viola were acoustically the proper size for its range, it would be too large to play like a violin but still too small to play like a cello. Usually, when a violist is in a solo role in front of an ensemble, one is playing fairly close to the bridge at all times just to be heard against the ensemble - even when a composer has taken great care to make the appropriate orchestrational choices."

Recently named a finalist for the 2023 William D. Revelli Composition Contest for her composition, Press On (2022), Meyer's works will continue to be performed on "The President's Own" United States Marine Band concerts, including a performance at the Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Virginia on Sunday, March 12 at 2:00pm. Meyer performs with ensemble counter)induction in works by Kyle Bartlett, Amy Williams, Eric Moe, and Suzanne Sorkin at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, PA on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 7:30pm.

Jessica Meyer's winter season opened with orchestras around the country playing her work, Go BIG or Go HOME (2019) as part of Carnegie Hall's Link Up program, where students in grades 3-5 are given the opportunity to perform with a professional orchestra. On Thursday, February 23 at 7:30pm, Carnegie Hill Concerts and the Experiential Orchestra co-presented EXO Chamber: CODE at the Church of the Advent Hope in New York. They used Meyer's work, Get Into The Now (2018) to explore the way their music interacts with poetry, dance song, and folk traditions to reinforce, transform and modulate the genetic code of the culture around us.

From February 27-March 1, 2023, the Austin Symphony Orchestra also performed Go BIG or Go HOME in multiple days of educational programming at The Long Center for the Performing Arts.

Jessica Meyer Spring 2023 Calendar

Sunday, February 4, 2023 at 2:00pm

The Cramer Quartet Performs Father, Forgive Them
Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia | Richmond, VA
Link: www.cramerquartet.com/calendar/2023/2/1/cms-of-central-virginia-the-cramer-quartet-plays-haydn

Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 2:00pm

"The President's Own" Marine Band Performs Luminosity
John Philip Sousa Band Hall, Marine Barracks Annex | Washington, D.C.
Link: https://express.adobe.com/page/RNUVDPM7lS8cc/#chamber-music-series-1

Thursday, February 23, 2023 at 7:30pm

Carnegie Hill Concerts Presents: EXO Chamber in CODE
Church of the Advent Hope | New York, NY
Link: www.carnegiehillconcerts.org/concerts/february232023

Monday, February 27 and Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Austin Symphony Orchestra performs Go BIG or Go HOME
The Long Center for the Performing Arts | Austin, TX
Link: https://thelongcenter.org/full-calendar/

Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 2:00pm

"The President's Own" Marine Band performs Hello
Rachel M Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center | Alexandria, VA
Link: https://express.adobe.com/page/RNUVDPM7lS8cc/#bratsche

Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at 7:30pm

HUB New Music Premieres Spirits and Sinew
Tulane University Dixon Annex Recital Hall | New Orleans, LA
Link: www.eventbrite.com/e/hub-new-music-whats-in-a-decade-tickets-533942214537?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 1:00pm

NOVUS NY Performs In the Waves
Trinity Wall Street | New York, NY
Link: https://trinitywallstreet.org/music/2022-23-season

Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 7:30pm

counter)induction Performs Works by Kyle Bartlett, Amy Williams, Eric Moe, and Suzanne Sorkin
St. Joseph's University | Philadelphia, PA
Link: https://www.counterinduction.com/2022-2023

Saturday, April 1, 2023 at 3:00pm

HUB New Music Performs Spirits & Sinew
The Celebrity Series of Boston | Multicultural Arts Center | Cambridge, MA
Link: https://www.celebrityseries.org/productions/hub-new-music-tenth-anniversary/

Sunday, April 16, 2023 at 3:00pm

Dorian Wind Quintet Premieres Avenue of the Giants
ArtsLIVE in Dayton | Dayton, OH
Link: https://udayton.edu/artssciences/initiatives/artslive/events/230416-dorianwindquintet.php

Sunday, April 16, 2023, 8:00pm

HUB New Music Performs Spirits & Sinew
NUMUS New Music Series | KW Little Theatre | Ontario, CA
Link: https://numus.on.ca/event/hub-new-music/

Monday, April 17, 2023 at 7:30pm

Evening of Music by Jessica Meyer
University of Dayton | Dayton, OH
Link: https://udayton.edu/calendar/index.php

Thursday, May 11, 2023 at 7:30pm

Portland Youth Philharmonic & In Mulieribus Premiere Because I Will Not Despair
St. Philip Neri Church | Portland, OR
Link: https://portlandyouthphil.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S7V00000UfXHRUA3

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at 7:30pm

Portland Youth Philharmonic & In Mulieribus Premiere Because I Will Not Despair
Lewis & Clark College | Portland, OR
Link: https://portlandyouthphil.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/#/events/a0S7V00000UfXHRUA3

Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 8:00pm

World Premiere of GAEA with the Orchestra of the League of Composers
Miller Theatre | New York, NY
Link: http://leagueofcomposers.org/2022-2023-season

About Jessica Meyer

Jessica Meyer is an award-winning composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility and emotional clarity. Her first composer/performer portrait album, Ring Out (Bright Shiny Things, 2019) debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart, where "knife-edge anticipation opens on to unexpected, often ecstatic musical realms, always with a personal touch and imaginatively written for the instruments" (Gramophone Magazine).

Her first Symphonic Band piece was recently premiered by the President's Own Marine Band (first at Strathmore then the NY premiere in Carnegie Hall), and her orchestral works have been performed by the Phoenix, North Carolina, Charlotte, and Vermont Symphonies, the Nu Deco Ensemble in Miami, at Tanglewood in Seiji Ozawa Hall, and all around the country as part of Carnegie Hall's nationwide Link Up Program. She was the winner of the 2nd Annual Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Composer's Award to write a piece for the Bangor Symphony, and a winner of Chamber Music America's Commissioning Program Award to write for the Argus Quartet. Recent chamber/solo premieres included a work for CityMusic Cleveland, musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, and for the Five Borough Songbook.

Meyer's compositions viscerally explore the wide palette of emotionally expressive colors available to each instrument while using traditional and extended techniques inspired by her varied experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist. Since embarking on her composition career eight years ago, premieres have included performances by acclaimed vocal ensembles Roomful of Teeth and Vox Clamantis, the St. Lawrence String Quartet as the composer in residence at Spoleto Festival USA, the American Brass Quintet, PUBLIQuartet, cellist Amanda Gookin for her Forward Music Project, Sybarite 5, NOVUS NY of Trinity Wall Street, a work for A Far Cry commissioned by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, The Juilliard School for a project with the Historical Performance Program, and by the Lorelei Ensemble for a song cycle that received the Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America.

As a solo performer, Meyer is internationally renowned for her use of a single simple loop pedal to create a virtuosic orchestral experience with her viola and voice. Drawing from wide-ranging influences which include Bach, Brahms, Delta blues, Flamenco, Indian Raga, and Appalachian fiddling, Meyer's music takes audience members on a journey through joy, anxiety, anger, bliss, torment, loneliness and passion. Her solo shows have been featured at iconic venues such as BAMcafé, Joe's Pub, and Symphony Space in NYC, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, in Paris at Sunset Sunside, in addition to venues in Singapore, Switzerland, Vietnam, the Emirates and beyond. At home with many different styles of music and an ardent collaborator, Meyer can regularly be seen premiering her chamber works, creating with dancer/choreographer Caroline Fermin, performing on Baroque viola, improvising with jazz musicians, or collaborating with other composer-performers.

Jessica Meyer is equally known for her inspirational work as an educator, where she empowers musicians with networking, communication, teaching, and entrepreneurial skills so they can be the best advocates for their own careers. Her workshops have been featured at The Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, for the Teaching Artists of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Manhattan School of Music, the Longy School of Music, New York University, the Chamber Music America Conference, and at various universities around the country. Meyer has conducted hundreds of workshops for students and adults for Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Caramoor, the Little Orchestra Society, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Currently, she is most passionate about getting musicians of all ages off the page to activate their own creativity, improvise, and awaken their own inner composer - which in turn makes them better performers. In addition to teaching virtual workshops, her most recent engagements have been for the Moab Music Festival, the National Youth Orchestra of Carnegie Hall, and for the North Carolina Chamber Music Institute. This past year, she launched a Teen Composer Intensive at New England Music Camp so that teens of all abilities can develop their craft, amass recordings for their portfolio, and connect with both professional and student performers. Learn more at www.jessicameyermusic.com.

Photo Credit: Dario Acosta