Edgar Meyer

Edgar Meyer is an American musician regarded as one of the foremost virtuosos on the double bass with a range that extends across classical, bluegrass, folk and jazz. He has collaborated with major artists and orchestras playing his own compositions as well as classic and traditional works. He has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards and won five and scored number one hits on the Billboard Classical Albums and Bluegrass Albums Charts.

Born in Tennessee he learned to play the double bass from his music teacher father and then studied at Indiana University. He won the Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1994 and won the Avery Fisher Prize for outstanding achievement in classical music in 2000. He has played as a guest with a wide variety of artists such as Garth Brooks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett and James Taylor. He appears regularly at classical music events at Aspen, Tanglewood, Chamber Music Northwest and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival often playing original works. He is visiting professor of double bass at the Royal Academy of Music and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

His album 'Appalachia Waltz' with cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Mark O'Connor topped Billboard's Classical Albums Chart in 1996 as did the 2000 release 'Appalachian Journey' which earned him his first Grammy Award. 'Uncommon Ritual' (1997) with banjo player Bela Fleck and guitarist Mike Marshall went to number nine, 'Short Trip Home' (1999) with violinist Joshua Bell number seven, 'Music for Two' (2004) with Fleck number five, 'Edgar Meyer' (2006) number 15 and 'The Melody of Rhythm: Triple Concerto & Music for Trio' with Fleck, tabla player Zakir Hussain and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra number three.

In 2011 'The Goat Rodeo Sessions' with Yo-Yo Ma, violinist and guitarist Stuart Duncan and Thile topped the Classical and the Bluegrass Albums Chart and 'The Goat Rodeo Sessions: Live EP' in 2012 went to number four on the Bluegrass Chart and number eight on the Classical. 'Bass & Mandolin' with Thile hit number two on both the Classical and Bluegrass ranking in 2014 and 'Bach Trios' with Thile and Yo-Yo Ma topped the Classical Chart in 2017.