IU alumnus Edgar Meyer a MacArthur Fellow

The MacArthur Fellowship is a five-year grant to individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. Since 1981, the program has honored 635 people ranging in age from 18 to 82 and with a broad variety of expertise. In addition to Meyer, this year’s honorees include a seismologist, a trombonist, a journalist, a molecular ecobiologist, a roboticist and an intellectual historian.

Meyer has been hailed by The New Yorker as “the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively unchronicled history of his instrument.” Fusing classical and bluegrass styles to create a unique musical sound, Meyer has won numerous competitions and hono rs, including Grammy awards for best classical crossover album in 2000 for Appalachian Journey and in 2001 for Perpetual Motion. In 1994, Meyer became the only bassist to win the Avery Fisher Career Grant; in 2000, he became the only bassist to receive the Avery Fisher Prize, which recognizes outstanding achievement and excellence in music.

Meyer has collaborated with such musical luminaries as Yo-Yo Ma, Bela Fleck, Mark O’Connor, James Taylor, Garth Brooks, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall and fellow IU School of Music alumnus Joshua Bell. He is currently visiting professor of double bass at the Roy al Academy of Music in London and adjunct associate professor of double bass at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.

http://www.macarthurfellows.org