Edgar Meyer
About this Artist
Hailed by The New Yorker as “the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument,” Edgar Meyer was recognized for his uniqueness in the field when he became the only bassist ever to be awarded an Avery Fisher Prize in addition to a MacArthur Award. He was honored with his sixth and seventh Grammy Awards for the recording As We Speak with Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, and Rakesh Chaurasia, released in May 2023. The first leg of the As We Speak tour in April and May preceded the album’s release, and the group went out again in November 2023 for the second leg. They play this summer at U.S. festivals and go to Asia and Australia in early 2025.
Meyer recently completed a duo recording with bassist Christian McBride, released in March, as well as a recording of his three concertos with The Knights, conducted by Eric Jacobsen and produced by Chris Thile. In June 2023, to complete the concerto project, he recorded his Concertino for Bass and 14 Strings in the U.K. with the Scottish Ensemble led by Jonathan Morton, who commissioned and toured the piece with Meyer in spring 2022. In fall 2024, Meyer’s newly formed trio with violinist Tessa Lark and cellist Joshua Roman will tour the U.S., performing string trios he composed in the 1980s as well as a newly commissioned work. Meyer is the subject of an ongoing documentary filmed and produced by Tessa Lark, Andrew Adair, and Michael Thurber.