FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Northwest Sinfonietta appoints world-renowned conductors Mei-Ann Chen, Jeffery Meyer as new artistic partners
By Zachary C. Person
Media contact: Karin Choo
TACOMA, Wash. – The Northwest Sinfonietta announces the appointment of conductors Mei-Ann Chen and Jeffery Meyer as the two newest artistic partners of the orchestra starting this fall with the 2022-2023 season. The duo joins award-winning Israeli conductor Yaniv Attar who has been an artistic partner with the ensemble since 2018.
“I’m very excited about our artistic partnerships with Mei-Ann, Jeff and Yaniv” says Northwest Sinfonietta board president Natalie Mayer. “I can’t wait to see what these diverse conductors bring to our organization and audiences. Join us for a season of magical music with these three conductors—all are welcome and celebrated here!
Mei-Ann Chen has been praised for her passionate and dynamic conducting style. She is highly regarded as a compelling communicator and innovative leader on and off the podium and is a sought-after conductor nationally and abroad who continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide (over 110 orchestras to date). She has served as music director of the MacArthur Award-winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011 and began her tenure as chief conductor of Austria’s Grosses Orchester Graz in fall 2021, following two seasons as the orchestra’s first-ever principal guest conductor. Other recent posts include serving Sweden’s Gävle and Helsingborg Symphonies, as artistic director and conductor for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival and as the first-ever artistic partner of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas.
Notable conducting engagements have included the San Francisco Symphony, London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra, Norway’s Oslo Philharmonic, Sweden’s Gävle and Helsingborg Symphonies, the Het Residentie Orkest in The Hague, Netherlands, the Helsinki Philharmonic in Finland, Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra and the symphonies of Atlanta, Seattle, Baltimore, Houston and Toronto.
Accolades include being named one of the top 30 influencers by Musical America in 2015, the 2012 winner of the Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras, a recipient of the 2007 Taki Concordia Fellowship, first prize winner in the 2005 Malko Competition and ASCAP awards for innovative orchestral programming. Chen, who is Taiwanese American, was born in Taiwan and moved to America in 1989 to pursue studies in violin and conducting. She was simultaneously awarded master’s degrees in violin and conducting from the New England Conservatory in Boston, followed by a Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Jeffery Meyer is a sought-after conductor, pianist and educator who has worked extensively throughout Europe, Asia and North America. He was appointed artistic director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2002 and is currently director of orchestras at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. As a conductor and piano soloist, Meyer has appeared with orchestras worldwide including the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Philippine Philharmonic and Thai Philharmonic, China’s Sichuan Symphony and many others.
"I am thrilled to begin a new relationship with the Northwest Sinfonietta this fall as an artistic partner,” says Meyer. “It is an honor to collaborate with artistic partners Mei-Ann Chen and Yaniv Attar, whose creativity and vibrant musicianship are sure to inspire an exciting era for the organization. Throughout my experiences with the Northwest Sinfonietta I have been consistently impressed with the engaged leadership, creative programming, and musical voices that they bring to the cultural scene. I am grateful for the opportunity to bring my vision and experience to this extraordinary organization.”
Prior to joining the faculty at Arizona State University, Meyer was director of orchestras for over a decade at Ithaca College in New York. He is a sought-after educator who has presented conducting masterclasses at renowned music schools worldwide, including the Jacobs School at Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana), the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, China’s Central Conservatory in Beijing and others.
As a pianist, Meyer has been in residence at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada and at the prestigious Aspen Festival in Colorado. Frequently seen leading orchestras from the keyboard, he holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in Stony Brook, New York.
Plaudits include winning the 2013 American Prize in Conducting, a prizewinner at the 2008 X. International Conducting Competition and distinguished entries in the Cadaqués Conducting Competition, the Beethoven Sonata International Piano Competition and the Vakhtang Jordania International Conducting competition.
In 2015 the Northwest Sinfonietta became one of only a few orchestras in the word to adopt an artistic partner model, allowing the musicians of the orchestra to take a larger role in the programming and vision for the ensemble. Each season, the orchestra collaborates with its artistic partners to present culturally relevant and informed programming showcasing myriad talents of both the members of the ensemble and invited guest soloists.
“We are thrilled to be working with three spectacular artistic partners this season!” says concertmaster Denise Dillenbeck. “Mei-Ann Chen’s work with us in the spring highlighted her incredible leadership, collaborative and exciting style, and skill with all kinds of music, from Mozart to modern day. Jeffery Meyer showed us his fire and passion in one of the most engaging and impactful programs we’ve played. And Yaniv Attar’s inspiring programming and musical presence continue to ground us and broaden our horizons.”
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About the Northwest Sinfonietta: The Northwest Sinfonietta was founded in 1991 by harpsichordist Kathryn Habedank and conductor Christophe Chagnard. The 35-member ensemble is the premiere chamber orchestra in the Puget Sound region and blends the intimacy of chamber music with the power of a full orchestra. In 2015, the Northwest Sinfonietta became one of the few orchestras in the world to move to an Artistic Partner model of operations, giving the musicians of the ensemble a larger role in the programming and vision for the ensemble. Learn more about the orchestra at: www.nwsinfonietta.org.