Critical Acclaim
…her violin voices the notes as a singer might, with tenderness and understanding. The music is poignant and evocative; the playing is exquisite. Put another way, the album’s (Shining Night) sixty-seven minutes seemed far shorter and for me could have gone on forever…She makes every note mean something as few musicians can.
Meyers’ playing is what it always has been: a national treasure. She is a musical wizard, with astonishing access to every kind of expressive color. Whether within a phrase or on just a single note, she can change tone color in a micro-second from smooth grain to rough, from dark to radiant, from thoughtful to assertive. And she can, like magic, bring new work to vibrant life.
Anne Akiko Meyers doesn’t just set the standard; she is the standard
She commanded a marvelous palette of tones that ranged from edgy and almost gnawing to whispery light to full-bodied yet lyrical to clear as crystalline glass. Her flawless technique and artistry was just flat out mind boggling….
The Kansas City Symphony and violinist Anne Akiko Meyers gave a loving, posthumous world premiere performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s final composition, “Fantasia”.
The extended, steady voice of Meyers’ violin, with a burgundy tone and soulful expression, floated over the sighing, undulating texture of the orchestra….
THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Anne Akiko Meyers delivered a breathtaking, out of this world performance. She had her work cut out with Bates’ Violin Concerto. Fearfully hard, it reminded me of the “sheets of sound” saxophonist John Coltrane was known for, an unrelenting moto perpetuo of sheer virtuosity, but also with long periods of unabashed beauty. Bates must be thrilled to have Meyers championing his work as she is out of this world, scampering around the instrument, up to the dizzy heights with ease and flying around like a whirlwind – breathtaking. Plenty of interest for the orchestra, too, bringing sound effects and music together in a piece that one senses has an internal logic, begging a second and a third listen.
STUFF; NEW ZEALAND
Meyers was stunning…she and the orchestra made the whole piece sound easy, with the result that listeners were able to crawl inside the music in a manner that, even in a lifetime of listening, was at once rare and exceptional. The place went wild, to put it mildly…
CLASSICAL VOICE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers is one of the most adventurous soloists on the international scene today.
CHICAGO CLASSICAL
Anne Akiko Meyers is the coolest thing to happen to the violin since Stradivari.
DENVER POST
There is an old-world glamour to Ms. Akiko Meyers’s playing, with her high-gloss, singing sound and her liberal use of sighing slides from one note to another….in the most hazardous tempo changes and transitions their interaction was impressively relaxed.
A no-nonsense account…she vividly portrays the varying moods in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with playing that is quite remarkable in its dexterity and technical brilliance.
THE STRAD MAGAZINE
it simply has very rarely had such a combination of soaring songfulness and sheer instrumental power.
ALL MUSIC GUIDE
FOUR SEASONS: THE VIVALDI ALBUM
An artist as tuned to the gods as Anne Akiko Meyers, the master violinist…Maybe Meyers can make anything right. Maybe it is that simple.
CHAUTAUQUAN DAILY
Meyers is a powerful, charismatic musician….the performance wove a spell that took the audience to another sonic realm.
THE PLAIN DEALER
Meyers does not simply interpret music-she feels it, she becomes empowered by it and she expresses it. Meyers’ tone, inflection, technical skills and passion are mesmerizing. Her passionate play is creatively impulsive and truly does take you on a story-filled journey with each passage.
THE CITIZEN’S VOICE
Meyers is a passionate performer whose passion becomes an invitation to enter into the music and our own humanity more deeply.
OREGON’S MAIL TRIBUNE
She brought vivid imagination infusing the concerto with personality and stunning finesse, casting a spell from the outset.
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER
Meyers’ tone pierced the hall like a laser beam. Meyers possesses a tone so pure that it emerges just a few times in a generation.
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Meyers was determined to coax everything from the orchestra that could possibly be coaxed. Her playing was inspired, technically perfect, impassioned and compelling.
UTRECHTS DAGBLAD -THE NETHERLANDS
The way she gave each note a tiny story en route was enchanting-a splendid, breathtaking performance.
NZZ-ZURICH
A special gift from the moment she played the first note. She seduced us with her exquisite musical sensitivity and created continuous musical magic.
EL CORREO
A thousand sensitive tones…Anne Akiko Meyers captivated her audience immediately with her finely spun tone, which was capable of marvelously subtle transformations.
DIE RHEINPFALZ
Playing that flows from the heart
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Vigorous mastery, unflinching technical skills and stylish elegance.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Meyers seemed not only a consummate fiddler but also a whole bevy of singers, from a lush operatic soprano to a raw-throated honky-tonk belter.
SAN DIEGO READER
Can take a meandering train of thought and spin it out into a melody of exquisite beauty-this is playing of rare sensitivity.
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
She is not afraid to take risks-there seems to be no limit to the colors this violinist can draw from her instrument.
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE
Meyers was like an enchantress. And her violin seemed to conjure the forces of nature. Fire, water, wind and even stillness all were within the command of her bow.
DAYTON DAILY NEWS
Her playing captured the Puccini-like yearning and tenderness with the naturalness of a great singer and which brought at least one listener close to tears.
BALTIMORE SUN
If the music business were able to special-order the prerequisite parts for a successful concert career, it could scarcely come up with something more satisfying than Anne Akiko Meyers. What Ms.Meyers wants from her instrument she seems to get.
DEBUT RECITAL
THE NEW YORK TIMES
