|
< back to 2008 Schedule
Daniel
Meyer
July
17, 2008
As new Music
Director of the Erie Philharmonic, Resident Conductor of the
Pittsburgh Symphony, Music Director of the Asheville Symphony,
and Music Director of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra,
Daniel Meyer is recognized as one of the top young conductors
of his generation. In Erie, Mr. Meyer will conduct classical
and pops series concerts as well as a series at Edinboro University
and the annual fall Heritage Festival Concert. In Pittsburgh,
he conducts over 30 performances a year, including subscription,
pops, community, and education concerts. This season he led the
orchestra in the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s
Pastime, based on the lives of the great American ballplayers
Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson, and Henry Aaron. Mr. Meyer and
the PSO were recently awarded the 2006 Bank of America Award
for Excellence in Orchestra Education for their groundbreaking
work with the Wilkinsburg community in programs produced over
four consecutive years. In Asheville, he has already reinvigorated
the orchestra, enlivening the arts community with innovative
programs and a dedication to create and sustain an enthusiastic
audience for classical music.
Mr. Meyer has
worked closely with Mariss Jansons, Sir Andrew Davis, and Charles
Dutoit, led the Pittsburgh Symphony on tour, and conducted performances
with Pinchas Zukerman, Sarah Chang, and Marvin Hamlisch as soloists.
With a talent for creative concerts and a passion for connecting
with audiences, he led the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Symphony
with a Splash, an innovative series designed for professionals,
as well as a Sunday matinee series for families called Popular
Classics. Committed to music education and young audiences, Mr.
Meyer has developed a new series of Tiny Tots concerts based
on popular children’s books to promote music and literacy.
He has been featured on WQED-FM, KDKA-TV, in Pittsburgh Magazine,
and has appeared as a guest lecturer at the Carnegie Mellon Business
School.
In 2004, Mr.
Meyer led the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony in a special performance
at the first ever National Performing Arts Convention and conducted
the orchestra on its first international tour in fifteen years
to Vienna, Prague, Leipzig and Budapest in 2005. Last season
he led the Youth Symphony in the world premiere of David Stock's
Clarinet Concerto with soloist Richard Stoltzman and led the
orchestra on tour in Washington, D.C. Upo special invitation,
he also led special concerts with students from the Tianjin Conservatory,
China in 2006 and 2007.
Mr. Meyer was
awarded the 2002 Aspen Conducting Prize after his second season
as a fellowship Academy Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival.
His residency there culminated in a performance at the Blossom
Festival, where he made his debut conducting the Cleveland Orchestra.
In 2003 he served as Assistant Conductor to David Zinman and
returned the following summer to lead a subscription performance.
Highlighting his commitment to new music and contemporary composers,
Mr. Meyer conducted several premieres at Aspen, was featured
on the Adventures in Listening new music series, and also appeared
on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.
In addition
to the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Meyer has conducted the Utah,
Forth Worth, San Antonio, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Mansfield, Northeastern
Pennsylvania, Youngstown, Santa Barbara, Lansing, and Wheeling
symphonies. He has also led the Missouri Chamber Orchestra, Vocal
Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati, and orchestras at the Aspen Music
Festival. Mr. Meyer was featured at the American Symphony Orchestra
League’s 2003 National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville
Symphony and made his debut with the Portland Symphony and Erie
Philharmonic this season.
A native of
Cleveland, Mr. Meyer is a graduate of Denison University and
the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He
composed and conducted works for ensembles at both schools, including
a Stabat Mater for soprano, chorus and orchestra. As a doctoral
student at Boston University, Mr. Meyer received the Orchestral
Conducting Honors Award. He also studied conducting at the Hochschule
für Musik in Vienna as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.
Prior to his
appointments in Asheville and Pittsburgh, Mr. Meyer was Assistant
Conductor of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra and Music Director
of the KSO Youth Sinfonia. He has prepared orchestras for Robert
Shaw, Lukas Foss, Joseph Silverstein, and James Conlon, and choruses
for two recordings with the Cincinnati Pops under Erich Kunzel.
As Assistant Conductor of Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble,
Mr. Meyer designed and conducted a series of ASCAP award-nominated
concerts for inner-city schools. |
