The Moss Arts Center officially opens its 2016-17 season with a performance by Edgar Meyer, a Grammy Award-winning musician and composer who transcends musical boundaries — from Bach to bluegrass — with his acoustic bass, gift for storytelling, and eclectic mix of musical selections.

Experience “An Evening with Edgar Meyer” on Friday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in the Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located within the Moss Arts Center’s Street and Davis Performance Hall on Alumni Mall.

Appreciated by a varied audience for his unparalleled technique combined with a gift for composition, Meyer’s performance will include Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 and a new three-movement original solo work.

Describing this work in progress, Meyer said, “I have wanted for a while to compose a piece for unaccompanied bass that is different than other pieces that I have written before. I wanted to attempt a larger form and language that is slightly more complex than I have used in shorter pieces or that I could improvise. Although I have not finished this piece, there is enough written to be able to present a working version.”

Meyer will present a less formal second half with selections he announces from the stage.

As a solo classical bassist, Meyer has recorded an album featuring three of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites. He wrote and recorded all of the music for a self-titled solo album in 2006, which incorporated piano, guitar, mandolin, dobro, banjo, gamba, and double bass. In 2007, recognizing his wide-ranging recording achievements, Sony/BMG released a compilation of “The Best of Edgar Meyer.”

He has received five Grammy awards for his collaborative work. In 2011 Meyer joined cellist Yo-Yo Ma, mandolinist Chris Thile, and fiddler Stuart Duncan for the Sony Masterworks recording “The Goat Rodeo Sessions,” which was awarded the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Meyer received his fifth Grammy Award in 2015 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his bass and mandolin collaboration with Thile.

Meyer began studying bass at the age of five with his father and continued his instruction with Stuart Sankey. In 1994 he received the Avery Fisher Career Grant and in 2000 became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize. His uniqueness in the field earned him a MacArthur Award in 2002. Currently, he is visiting professor of double bass at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Tickets

Tickets for the performance are $25-55 for general public and $10 for students and youth 18 and under. Tickets can be purchased online; at the Moss Arts Center's box office, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; or by calling 540-231-5300 during box office hours.

Parking is available in the North End Parking Garage on Turner Street. Virginia Tech faculty and staff possessing a valid Virginia Tech parking permit can enter and exit the garage free of charge. Limited street parking is also available. Parking on Alumni Mall is free on weekdays after 5 p.m. and on weekends.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Kacy McAllister at 540-231-5300 or email kmcallis@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to an event.

Contact:

Tags

Share this story