Composer and Violist Jessica Meyer Announces 2024-2025 Season Highlights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Katy Salomon | Primo Artists | VP, Public Relations 
katy@primoartists.com | 646.801.9406

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 Composer and Violist Jessica Meyer 
Announces 2024-2025 Season Highlights

World Premiere of Turbulent Flames by Auburn Symphony Orchestra,
with Nationwide Consortium Performances this Season by Cape Symphony Orchestra,
Idaho Falls Symphony, and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra

Season-long Community Engagement Efforts Include
Residencies, Commissioning Projects and Local Initiatives
Across Multiple Communities

Residencies with Auburn Symphony Orchestra and Idaho Falls Symphony 

World Premieres by Exponential Ensemble,
Juilliard Viola Faculty Member Carol Rodland and
The Claremont Trio and Metropolitan Opera Tenor Paul Appleby at Music Mondays

New York Premiere of Spirits and Sinew by HUB New Music in Honor of 10th
Anniversary Commissioning Initiative 

Go BIG or Go HOME Featured in Carnegie Hall’s
Nationwide Link Up Program, The Orchestra Rocks
 

"Lyrical lines are dramatically astute… gorgeously scored" – Musical America

"Each and every one of these works is unforgettable. It’s hard to pick a favorite" – Cultural Attaché

www.jessicameyermusic.com
 

New York, NY (October 22, 2024) – With “fierce-edged playing” (The New Yorker) and works that are “other-worldly” (The Strad) and “evocative” (The New York Times), Jessica Meyer is an award-winning composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility and emotional clarity. During the 2024-2025 season, Meyer highlights a string of projects built around a pursuit of community engagement, sharing her music and craft through hands-on efforts to work with students and adults, share ideas and support the commissioning of new works.

“After graduating from Juilliard, I spent many years regularly working with teachers and students in the NYC public school system, then later training young musicians that come out of various conservatories so they can better connect with different communities,” Meyer said. “With this season, I feel my life has finally come full circle as both an artist and an educator.”

The season will bring multiple world premieres of works by Meyer, beginning with her new piece Turbulent Flames, made possible through a broad consortium of orchestras organized by Music Director Wesley Schulz and the Auburn Symphony Orchestra. Later in the season, the work will be performed by three other members of the consortium: the Cape Symphony Orchestra, Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra, and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. A second new work composed by Meyer for viola and piano will be premiered by Juilliard Preparatory Division faculty member Carol Rodland, and Music Mondays will present the world premiere of an additional new work, performed by the Claremont Trio and Metropolitan Opera tenor Paul Appleby. Throughout the season, Meyer will also take part in multi-day residencies, new compositional projects, and local initiatives to foster engagement around the country.

On Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 2:30pm, the Auburn Symphony Orchestra presented Radical Rachmaninoff at the Auburn Performing Arts Center (Auburn, WA), where they performed the world premiere of Turbulent Flames conducted by Wesley Schulz as part of Meyer’s residency with the orchestra. The program also featured pianist Dominic Cheli who performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Meyer said, “I wanted to write a fiery piece for orchestra that combined a good amount of virtuosity, unpredictability and fun. I also wanted a piece that channeled that excitement musicians felt when they were growing up and played with a really good youth orchestra for the first time.”

Turbulent Flames will later be performed by the Cape Symphony Orchestra (Barnstable, MA) on Saturday, November 16, 2024 and Sunday, November 17, 2024; Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, November 23, 2024 as part of a residency by Meyer; and Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, April 26, 2024. More performances will follow over the next two seasons by fellow consortium members including the Orlando Symphony with conductor Eric Jacobsen, as well as the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Skagit Symphony Orchestra, and Walla Walla Symphony Orchestra. Through the consortium of orchestras performing this composition, the work will engage communities around the country through both concerts and related events. For both Auburn and Idaho Falls, Meyer will be on site for multi-day residencies.

On Monday, November 4, 2024, Meyer will perform with ChamberQUEER for the program The Nebula Project, Volume 1 at Mary Flagler Cary Hall at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music. This inaugural event titled Little Gems is part of an ongoing partnership between Luna Composition Lab and ChamberQUEER that aims to support emerging composers of diverse identities and cultivate their authentic voices through mentorship and the commissioning of new work.

On Thursday, November 7, 2024, at the National Opera Center in New York, Meyer’s newly commissioned piece Forces of Nature, written for the Exponential Ensemble, will see its world premiere in the ensemble’s Season 14: Elements concert. Forces of Nature – inspired by the Four Elements in Greek philosophy (earth, water, air and fire) – was written using musical ideas created by students during a residency by Meyer at Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music and made possible by a commissioning grant by Chamber Music America, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation. 

As part of their 10th Anniversary Commissioning Initiative, HUB New Music performs the New York premiere of Meyer’s Spirit and Sinew presented by Kaufman Music Center at Merkin Hall on Thursday, December 5, 2024. This curated program features eight new works commissioned for HUB’s 10th anniversary by composers whose work represents a snapshot of the most inspired music being written today: Tyshawn Sorey, Nico Muhly, Angélica Negrón, Donnacha Dennehy, Marcos Balter and Andrew Norman, as well as Meyer.

As part of her faculty appointment at Manhattan School of Music, Meyer will perform in two MSM Faculty Recitals. On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at Greenfield Hall, she appears as a guest artist alongside composer and flutist Valerie Coleman, a fellow member of the MSM faculty, in a performance of Coleman’s work Aja for flute, viola and harp. Featuring guest artists including clarinetist Alan Kay, bassoonist Monica Ellis, and pianist Michelle Cann, the program will also include Coleman’s works Opus Serena for bassoon and piano, Rubispheres for flute, clarinet, and bassoon, Portraits of Langston and Fanmi Imèn. On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, Meyer will perform her own recital, featuring her own compositions along with Hindemith's iconic viola Sonata Op. 11 No. 4. Meyer will be joined by guest artists including violinist Chloé Kiffer, pianist Austin Philemon, and mezzo-soprano Erin Reppenhagen.

On Saturday, April 5, 2025, the world premiere of Meyer’s new work for viola and piano will be performed by Carol Rodland, Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at The Juilliard School, as part of Juilliard's pre-college commissioning initiative. Through the Kayden Music Commissioning Program at Juilliard Pre-College, more than 50 new works have been commissioned and premiered in recent years, with plans to bring about approximately 10 new commissions annually in the coming years. Meyer was previously commissioned to write 8 Etudes for Viola for Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program (MAP). Her new composition will be a piece that up-and-coming violists can embrace, to the benefit of young musicians and educators.

As part of New York City’s Music Mondays, the Claremont Trio and acclaimed Metropolitan Opera tenor Paul Appleby will perform the world premiere of a new work by Meyer at the Advent Lutheran Church in New York on Monday, May 19, 2025. The new work was inspired by poetry written about Manhattan’s Upper West Side by violinist and poet Giancarlo Latta.

From Tuesday May 20, 2025 to Thursday, May 22, 2025, Carnegie Hall will present Meyer’s Go BIG or Go HOME as part of their nationwide educational program Link Up: The Orchestra Rocks, hosting twice-daily performances in Stern Auditorium for partner schools around the New York area. Go BIG or Go HOME has previously been performed as part of Carnegie Hall's Link Up program by more than 30 orchestras around the country, including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony Orchestra, and more.

In addition, Meyer is working this season with a consortium of high schools from her hometown region of Long Island, NY, to compose and premiere a new work in honor of a beloved local band teacher killed in a tragic accident last year. The consortium includes organizations from Meyer’s own formative years as an artist, including her high school alma mater in Bay Shore, NY, where she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame this year. The new work will be premiered during the schools' spring season.

Jessica Meyer 2024-2025 Season Calendar

Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 2:30pm
Auburn Symphony Orchestra premiere of Turbulent Flames [World Premiere]
Auburn Performing Arts Center | Auburn, WA
Link: www.auburnsymphony.org/202425-season/oct 

Monday, November 4, 2024 at 7:00pm
ChamberQUEER and Luna Composition Lab present The Nebula Project, Volume 1
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music | New York, NY
Link: www.lunacompositionlab.org/event/the-nebula-project-volume-1-little-gems/ 

Thursday, November 7, 2024 at 7:00pm
Exponential Ensemble premieres Forces of Nature [World Premiere]
National Opera Center | New York, NY
Link: www.exponentialensemble.com/season-14

Saturday, November 16 at 7:30pm
Sunday, November 17, 2024 at 3:00pm
Cape Symphony Orchestra performs Turbulent Flames
Barnstable Performing Arts Center | Barnstable, MA
Link: www.capesymphony.org/orchestra/2024-25-season/fantastique 

Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 7:30pm
Idaho Falls Symphony Orchestra performs Turbulent Flames
Frontier Center for the Performing Arts | Idaho Falls, ID
Link: www.ifsymphony.org/calendar/her-song-in-3-voices/ 

Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 7:30pm
HUB New Music performs Spirit and Sinew [New York Premiere]
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall | New York, NY
Link: www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/hub-mix-tape/ 

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at 7:30pm
MSM Faculty Recital 
Greenfield Hall, Manhattan School of Music | New York, NY
Link: www.msmnyc.edu/performances/msm-faculty-recital-valerie-coleman-flute-with-alan-kay-clarinet-2-25-2025/ 

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 at 7:30pm
MSM Faculty Recital
Greenfield Hall, Manhattan School of Music | New York, NY
Link: www.msmnyc.edu/performances/msm-faculty-recital-jessica-meyer-3-18-2025/ 

Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 8:00pm
Carol Rodland Viola Faculty Recital Premieres New Work for Viola and Piano [World Premiere]
The Juilliard School | New York, NY
Link: www.juilliard.edu/school/preparatory-division/preparatory-division-commissioning 

Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 7:30pm
Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra performs Turbulent Flames
Seabrook Auditorium | Fayetteville, NC
Link: www.fayettevillesymphony.org/2024-2025-season-concerts/ 

May 19, 2025 at 7:30pm
Claremont Trio & Paul Appleby Premiere New Work [World Premiere]
Advent Lutheran Church | New York, NY
Link: www.musicmondays.org/may-2025 

Tuesday May 20, 2025 to Thursday, May 22, 2025 at 10:15am and 11:45am
Carnegie Hall’s Link Up: The Orchestra Rocks Program
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall | New York, NY
Link: www.carnegiehall.org/Education/Programs/Link-Up/New-York-City#concert 

About Jessica Meyer
With playing that is “fierce and lyrical” and works that are “other-worldly” (The Strad) and “evocative” (The New York Times), 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).

Since the start of her composition career in 2014, at age 40, Meyer’s compositions have viscerally explored the wide palette of colors available to each instrument while combining techniques inspired by her experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist. Her works have been performed in venues from the Kennedy Center to Carnegie Hall, by musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, and by orchestras around the country. Her first Symphonic Band piece was commissioned and toured by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and was a finalist for the William D. Revelli Composition Contest. She has also received multiple commissioning awards from both Chamber Music America and the New York State Council on the Arts.

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, 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. Recent premieres included works for the Dorian Wind Quintet, Hausmann Quartet, Hub New Music, the Portland Youth Philharmonic in collaboration with the female vocal ensemble In Mulieribus, her viola concerto GAEA that she premiered alongside the Orchestra of the League of Composers at Miller Theatre in NYC, the Brooklyn Art Song Society, the American Guild of Organists for their National 2024 Conference, and a work specifically for the Rochester Planetarium in honor of the spring 2024 eclipse.

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. For two years, she created and led 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. This past summer, she served as the Composer in Residence for the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival and led their Emerging Composer Program. Starting in the Fall of 2023, she joined the Viola Faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. Learn more at www.jessicameyermusic.com.

*Photo Credit: Titilayo Ayangade

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