Edgar Meyer

Meyer grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He learned to play the double bass from his father, Edgar Meyer, Sr., who directed the string orchestra program for the local public school system. Meyer later went on to Indiana University to study with Stuart Sankey.[1]

As a composer, Meyer's music has been premiered and recorded by Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, and the Emerson String Quartet, among others. The Nashville Symphony and the Aspen Music Festival and School commissioned his first purely orchestral work which was premiered by the Nashville Symphony in March 2017.[2] Additionally, Bravo! Vail and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields commissioned an Overture for Violin and Orchestra that was premiered by Joshua Bell and ASMF in June 2017.[3]

In 2011, Meyer collaborated on The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, and Chris Thile. The album won two 2013 Grammy Awards. Meyer was honored with his fifth Grammy Award[4] in 2015 for his Bass & Mandolin, recording with Thile. Meyer recorded a collection of Bach trios with Thile and Yo-Yo Ma, released in April 2017.[5] In June 2020, the same group of musicians who recorded The Goat Rodeo Sesssions released a second album entitled Not Our First Goat Rodeo.

Meyer is Artist in Residence at Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music[6] and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music.[7]

Meyer with his double bass

Solo work

• Unfolding (1986)
• Dreams of Flight (1987)
• Love of a Lifetime (1988)
• Work in Progress (1990)
• Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites Performed on Double Bass (2000)
• Meyer and Bottesini Concertos (2002)
• Edgar Meyer (2006)

With Yo-Yo Ma and Mark O'Connor

• Appalachia Waltz (1996)
• Appalachian Journey (2000)
  • Won Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album

With Béla Fleck

• Double Time (1984, on the song "Lowdown")
• Perpetual Motion (2001)
  • Won two Grammys
• B Song (Live at Bonnaroo 2002)
• Music for Two (live) (2004)

With Chris Thile

• Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile (2008)
• Bass & Mandolin (2014)
  • Won Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album

Miscellaneous collaborations

• Telluride Sessions (1989) – as "Strength in Numbers"
• Skip, Hop, and Wobble (1993) – with Jerry Douglas and Russ Barenberg
• Bourbon and Rosewater (1996) – with Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Jerry Douglas
• Schubert: Quintet, Op. 114 "The Trout" (1996) – with Emanuel Ax, Pamela Frank, Rebeca Young, and Yo-Yo Ma
• Uncommon Ritual (1997) – with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall
• Quintet (1998) – with the Emerson String Quartet
• Short Trip Home (1999) – with Joshua Bell
  • Grammy nominated
• Dawg Duos (1999) – with David Grisman
• Violin Concerto (2000) – with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Hilary Hahn
• The Melody of Rhythm – Triple Concerto & Music for Trio (2009) – with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain
• The Goat Rodeo Sessions (2011) – with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile
  • Won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
• Bach Trios (2017) – with Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Thile

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edgar Meyer.

• Meyer homepage
• Meyer discography
• Edgar Meyer at Boosey & Hawkes
• Full Biography
• BACH & friends Documentary