GRAMMY® Award-winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers has unveiled her latest album, Blue Electra, on Naxos. The album includes a violin concerto inspired by aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, alongside works by renowned GRAMMY® Award-winning composer Michael Daugherty.
The album’s centerpiece is the violin concerto, dedicated to Meyers herself. She describes the piece’s haunting ending as “crushing” and “incredibly haunting.” The work was premiered in 2022 by Meyers and the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda, at the Kennedy Center. The concerto’s final bars were created by Daugherty, who explained that the idea “simply presented itself” during the composition process.
Also featured on Blue Electra are Daugherty’s “Last Dance at the Surf” (2021) and “To the New World” (2019). “Last Dance at the Surf” commemorates the tragic plane crash of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper after their final concert in 1959. This one-movement dance symphony captures the energy and emotion of that fateful evening.
“To the New World” honors the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, blending orchestra with a solo euphonium, Neil Armstrong’s college instrument. The work incorporates themes from Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a piece Armstrong took to the Moon. The composition also features an ethereal soprano obbligato, mimicking the theremin, one of Armstrong’s favorite instruments.
The album was recorded in 2023 at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall with the Albany Symphony, conducted by David Alan Miller.
Meyers, who recently won a GRAMMY® for her live recording of Arturo Márquez’s Fandango with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, has a long history of collaboration with some of today’s leading composers, including Mason Bates, John Corigliano, and Philip Glass. She has made numerous television appearances, including on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Evening at Pops with John Williams, and CBS Sunday Morning.
A graduate of the Colburn School of Performing Arts and The Juilliard School, Meyers has worked closely with the legendary Dorothy DeLay. She has received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and an Honorary Doctorate from the Colburn School. She also serves on the board of trustees of The Juilliard School.
Meyers performs on the 1741 “Vieuxtemps” Guarneri “del Gesù” and uses Larsen Strings, including the Il Cannone Gold D string and Il Cannone Soloist strings.
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