New Release: Anne Akiko Meyers’ “Fantasia”

Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers’ newly-released album, Fantasia, opens with a beautiful, shimmering Scandinavian soundscape.

Written in 2015, the Fantasia for violin and orchestra is one of the final works of Finnish composer, Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016). In his early days a composer of 12-tone music, Rautavaara is best known for the mystical neo-romanticism of later pieces such as Cantus Arcticus (“Concerto for Birds and Orchestra”) and Symphony No. 7, “Angel of Light. Meyers talks about her commission of the fifteen-minute-long elegy and her collaboration with Rautavaara in this Gramophone articleand in this recent interview with Richmond Public Radio’s Mike Goldberg.

There’s an incredible sense of harmonic searching in this music. It’s constantly arriving in a surprising new place. And then there’s that moment when the ghost of Jean Sibelius seems to make a brief appearance.

The First Violin Concerto of Polish twentieth century composer Karol Szymanowski and Ravel’s gypsy-inspired Tzigane round out this great new album.

Recordings

  • Fantasia: Anne Akiko Meyers, Philharmonia Orchestra, Kristjan Järvi iTunes
  • Explore more music by Einojuhani Rautavaara iTunes

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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