Jeffery Meyer

Guest Conductor

 
Born in Chicago, Jeffery Meyer began his musical studies as a pianist, and shortly thereafter continued on to study composition and conducting. Since 2002 he has been the Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, Russia, one of St. Petersburg’s most innovative and progressive ensembles. He has appeared with orchestras in the United States and abroad, including ensembles such as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Sichuan Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa, and the Orchestra Sinfonico “Haydn” di Bolzano e Trento. In recent concert seasons, he has been seen conducting, performing as piano soloist and chamber musician, as well as conducting from the keyboard in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Norway and throughout Eastern and Southeastern Asia.

Called “one of the most interesting and creatively productive conductors working in St. Petersburg” by Sergei Slonimsky, he is an active participant in the music of our time, has collaborated with dozens of composers, and commissioned and premiered numerous new works. The New York Times described his performances with the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in its United States debut at Symphony Space’s 2010 “Wall-to-Wall, Behind the Wall” Festival in New York City as “impressive”, “powerful”, “splendid”, and “blazing.” His programming has been recognized with three ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, as well as the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award for Programming. In 2007, he made his Glinka Hall conducting debut in the final concert of the 43rd St. Petersburg “Musical Spring” International Festival, and in 2009, he conducted the opening concert of the 14th International Musical Olympus Festival at the Hermitage Theatre and was invited back to perform in the 2011 festival. He has also been featured numerous times as both a conductor and pianist as part of the “Sound Ways” International New Music Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the summer of 2011, he returned to China as the guest conductor of the 2011 Beijing International Composition Workshop at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China, and in 2012 conducted at the Thailand International Composition Festival. He has been distinguished in several international competitions (2008 Cadaqués Orchestra Conducting Competition, 2003 Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting Competition, 2003 Beethoven Sonata International Piano Competition, Memphis, Tennessee) and was a prizewinner in the 2008 X. International Conducting Competition “Antonio Pedrotti” and the winner of the 2013 American Prize in Conducting.

As a pianist, Meyer has been in residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and in residence at the Aspen Festival as part of the Furious Band. He performs frequently with percussionist Paul Vaillancourt as part of the piano-percussion duo Strike, which, in January 2010, released an album of world-premiere recordings of works written for the duo on Luminescence Records, Chicago. The duo has appeared in the International Contemporary Music Festival “Sound Ways” (St. Petersburg, Russia), Beijing Modern Festival (China), Tianjin Conservatory (China) and the Thailand International Composition Festival (Thailand). Most recently the ensemble was in residence at the UMKC Conservatory and was presented at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburg as part of the Sound Series/Music on the Edge 2013-14 season. He has been broadcast on CBC, has recorded and performed with the Philadelphia Virtuosi (Naxos), and has been heard as a soloist at the Aspen Festival. During the 2001-2002 academic year he lived and studied in Berlin and Leipzig as the recipient of a DAAD grant in music, during which time he wrote incidental music to David Mamet’s Duck Variations, which was performed throughout Berlin by the theater group Heimspieltheater.

Passionate about working with young musicians and music education, Meyer is the Director of Orchestras at Arizona State University, one of the top schools of music in the United States, and is an active adjudicator, guest clinician, and masterclass teacher. Prior to his appointment at ASU, he was the Director of Orchestras at Ithaca College for over a decade. He has judged competitions throughout the United States, including Alaska, as well as at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival. He has given masterclasses throughout the United States as well as Canada and Asia, and recently led conducting masterclasses at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, China, Tianjin Conservatory, the Jacobs School at Indiana University, and the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. He has served on the faculties of the Icicle Creek Music Center, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Dorian Keyboard Festival, Opusfest Chamber Music Festival (Philippines), Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Marrowstone Music Festival, and the LSM Academy and Festival. Recent and upcoming activities include appearances throughout Southeast Asia including a guest residency in orchestral training at Tianjin Conservatory and concerts with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philippine Philharmonic, and appearances with Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble X in New York, the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Chamber Orchestra in Indiana, Alia Musica in Pittsburgh, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Xalapa in Mexico, the MiNensemblet in Norway, and the Portland-Columbia Symphony in Oregon.

Meyer holds degrees in piano as well as composition and completed his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Piano Performance with Gilbert Kalish at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.