New viola appointment at Manhattan School of Music

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The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) has appointed Jessica Meyer to its faculty.

’MSM is thrilled to welcome Jessica Meyer to the viola faculty,’ said JT Kane, dean of instrumental studies and orchestral performance. ’Jessica’s impressive background as a pedagogue, soloist, chamber musician, and composer, combined with her belief in the mission of MSM and our commitment to Cultural Inclusion, will enhance our student’s experience and help them grow and become the best musicians and citizens possible. We couldn’t be happier that she accepted our offer to be part of the MSM family.’

Meyer commented on her appointment: ’I have been wanting a place to teach where I can finally park all that I know as a violist and empower an army of students to be inspiring performers. To thrive in the 21st century as an artist, we have to not wait to be chosen - but instead choose ourselves.’

Award-winning composer and violist Meyer’s first composer/performer portrait album in 2019 debuted at #1 on the Billboard traditional classical chart. She aims to explore the wide palette of emotionally expressive colours available to each instrument while using traditional and extended techniques inspired by her experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist.

Her works have enjoyed premieres by 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, cellist Amanda Gookin for her Forward Music Project, Sybarite 5, NOVUS NY of Trinity Wall Street.

As an educator, Meyer’s 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, NYU, the Chamber Music America Conference, and at various universities around the US.

Highlights of Meyer’s upcoming 2023-24 season include the world premieres of two new commissioned pieces: In the Path of Totality, and with a gift for burning. The season also features the New York premieres of two works: A Passage Between Earth and Sky by NOVUS NY and Avenue of the Giants performed by the Dorian Wind Quintet.

Playing

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Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.