Over the Rainbow

Over the Rainbow with Anne Akiko Meyers

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violinist Anne Akiko Meyers
violinist Anne Akiko Meyers

 

Earlier in the week, I had the pleasure of accompanying violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in the Samuel Barber Violin Concerto. Meyers performed with the Williamsburg Symphonia, a chamber orchestra based in Williamburg, Virginia. You can hear her interpretation of the Barber on this recording, released in 2000. (She is accompanied by conductor Christopher Seaman and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Listen to the second movement here).

Anne Akiko Meyers’ family joined her in Virginia. As an encore, she performed a solo rendition of When You Wish upon a Star as a softly soothing lullaby for her two young daughters in the audience. The song, first heard in Disney’s 1940 film, Pinocchio, was included in a recording Meyers just released last month called Serenade: The Love Album. (Listen to excerpts here, here, and here).

Here is another small gem from an earlier CD (Smile, released in 2009). Anne Akiko Meyers and pianist Anton Nel perform Makoto Ozone’s arrangement of the Harold Arlen ballad, Over the Rainbow at WGBH studios in Boston:

We’ll Paint You a Rainbow

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Heartbeats FoundationLast March, cellist Lynn Harrell and a host of fellow all star musicians, including John Williams and Jessye Norman, released a special recording called We’ll Paint You a Rainbow. The recording raises money for the HEARTbeats Foundation, a project Harrell and his wife founded in 2010. The Foundation’s noble goal is to bring the transformative power of music to disadvantaged children throughout the world. The joyful reaction of these children in Nepal is a testament to the universal appeal of music and the value of the project. Check out Harrell’s account of the trip to Nepal here and read an article in this month’s Strings Magazine.

Here is an excerpt from the recording session featuring Harrell and soprano Christine Brewer performing Harold Arlen’s Over the Rainbow. Enjoy the music and consider supporting the HEARTbeats Foundation’s mission.

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