Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass,

newgrass Bluegrass music is a Music genre, genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe, Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has r ...

, and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

. He has won seven

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

s and been nominated ten times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival's "house band" super group, along with Sam Bush, Béla Fleck,

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

Stuart Duncan Stuart Ian Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school ...

, and Bryan Sutton. His collaborators have spanned a wide range of musical styles and talents; among them are Joshua Bell,

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemp ...

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma (born October 7, 1955) is a French-born American Cello, cellist. Born to Chinese people, Chinese parents in Paris, he was regarded as a child prodigy there and began to study the cello with his father at age four. At the age of seven, ...

, Tessa Lark, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan,

Chris Thile Christopher Scott Thile (; born February 20, 1981) is an American mandolinist, singer, songwriter, composer, and radio personality, best known for his work in the progressive acoustic trio Nickel Creek and the acoustic folk and progressive blue ...

, Mike Marshall, Mark O'Connor, Christian McBride, and Emanuel Ax.

Early life

Meyer grew up in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

, where he attended Oak Ridge High School. 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 School of Music to study with Stuart Sankey. He graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor of Music (BM).

Career

As a composer, Meyer's music has been premiered and recorded by Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...

, Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Hilary Hahn, and the

Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, was an American string quartet initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touri ...

, among others. The

Nashville Symphony The Nashville Symphony is an American symphony orchestra, based in Nashville, Tennessee. The orchestra is resident at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. History In 1920, prior to the 1946 founding of the Nashville Symphony, a group of amateur a ...

and the

Aspen Music Festival and School The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a European classical music, classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music stu ...

commissioned his first purely orchestral work which was premiered by the Nashville Symphony in March 2017. 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. 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

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. In June 2020, the same group of musicians who recorded ''The Goat Rodeo Sessions'' released a second album entitled '' Not Our First Goat Rodeo''. Meyer is Artist in Residence at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

's Blair School of Music and is on faculty at the Curtis Institute of Music. At Curtis, Meyer taught Punch Brothers bassist and composer Paul Kowert.

Personal life

Edgar Meyer is married to violinist Connie (Cornelia) Heard, and they have one son, George Meyer, who also plays the violin.

Discography

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

and Mark O'Connor *'' Appalachia Waltz'' (1996) *'' Appalachian Journey'' (2000) **Won Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album With Christian McBride *'' But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?'' (2024) With Béla Fleck *'' Double Time'' (1984, on the song "Lowdown") *''

Perpetual Motion Perpetual motion is the motion of bodies that continues forever in an unperturbed system. A perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical machine that can do work indefinitely without an external energy source. This kind of machine is impossible ...

'' (2001) **Won two

Grammys The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

*"Bonnaroo Traveler" (Live at

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

2002) *'' Music for Two'' (live) (2004) With

*'' 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

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

*'' Uncommon Ritual'' (1997) – with Béla Fleck and Mike Marshall *Quintet (1998) – with the

*'' Short Trip Home'' (1999) – with Joshua Bell **

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated *'' Dawg Duos'' (1999) – with David Grisman *Violin Concerto (2000) – with Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and

*''The Melody of Rhythm – Triple Concerto & Music for Trio'' (2009) – with Béla Fleck and Zakir Hussain *'' The Goat Rodeo Sessions'' (2011) – with

and

**Won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album and the

Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical has been awarded since 1959. The award had several minor name changes: * In 1959, the award was known as Best Engineered Record – Non-Classical * In 1960, it was awarded as Best Engineeri ...

*''Bach Trios'' (2017) – with Yo-Yo Ma and Chris Thile *'' Not Our First Goat Rodeo'' (2020) – with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan and Chris Thile

References

External links

Meyer homepageMeyer discographyEdgar Meyer at Boosey & HawkesBiography at IMG ArtistsBACH & friends Documentary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Edgar 1960 births Living people 21st-century American double-bassists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers American male composers Bluegrass musicians from Tennessee American classical double-bassists American male double-bassists Aspen Music Festival and School faculty MacArthur Fellows Jacobs School of Music alumni Grammy Award winners People from Oak Ridge, Tennessee Lyle Lovett and His Large Band members