FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of conductor Jeffery Meyer as professor of music in orchestral conducting, effective Aug. 1, pending approval of the IU Board of Trustees.
Meyer is widely known as an accomplished conductor, pianist and educator throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Russia. He is currently director of orchestras and associate professor at Arizona State University as well as artistic partner with the Northwest Sinfonietta. Prior to his 2016 appointment at Arizona, he was director of orchestras at Ithaca College for over a decade.
As artistic director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic for 20 years, his work was noted for its breadth and innovation. His programming has been awarded multiple prizes, including three ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming and two Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Awards in Orchestral Programming.
“Jeffery Meyer has developed an impressive reputation for championing innovative, relevant and diverse programming in addition to his passion for the traditional canon,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “He also has an extraordinary ability to infuse his students with the passion, commitment and joy he so obviously has for superlative music making. We look forward to him inspiring the next generation of students at Jacobs.”
Recent and upcoming projects and appearances include a newly developed multimedia performance of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and “Petrushka” with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong with soprano Dawn Upshaw and the world premiere of Carlos Simon’s “Graffiti,” performed and recorded alongside internationally renowned graffiti artists.
Additional highlights include a theatrical symphonic concert focused on themes of social justice developed in collaboration with Daniel Bernard Roumain and Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the world premiere recording of Laura Kaminsky’s Piano Concerto with pianist Ursula Oppens and a new, semi-staged production of Nkeiru Okoye’s “Invitation to a Die-In.”
Meyer is also an active adjudicator, guest clinician and master class presenter. He has given classes throughout the United States as well as Canada and Asia, and in addition to the Jacobs School of Music, recently led conducting master classes at the Central Conservatory and Tianjin Conservatory in China, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna and the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Meyer holds degrees in piano and composition and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance degree with Gilbert Kalish from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
“We are delighted to welcome Jeffery Meyer to the orchestral conducting faculty,” said Arthur Fagen, co-chair of the Orchestral Conducting Department. “Maestro Meyer has had great success both as artistic director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic and as a teacher of conducting at Arizona State University and Ithaca College, whose students have excelled in the profession. He will be a wonderful addition to our department and the school.”