Musical Director & Conductor, Daniel Meyer

As Music Director of the Asheville Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and Resident Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony, Daniel Meyer is recognized as one of the top young conductors of his generation.  Meyer has worked closely with Mariss Jansons, Sir Andrew Davis, Manfred Honeck, and Charles Dutoit, led the Pittsburgh Symphony on tour, and conducted performances with Pinchas Zukerman, Sarah Chang, and Marvin Hamlisch as soloists. With a talent for creative concerts and a passion for connecting with audiences, he led the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Symphony with a Splash, an innovative series designed for professionals, as well as a Sunday matinee series for families called Popular Classics. 

In his fourth season with the Asheville Symphony, Meyer leads the premiere of a new production of Falla’s El Amor Brujo with modern dance troupe Attack Theatre, continues a Brahms symphonic cycle with Symphony No. 4, and leads combined forces in Beethoven’s epic Symphony No. 9.  In his work with the ASO, he has helped to reinvigorate the orchestra, enlivening the arts community with innovative programs and a dedication to create and sustain an enthusiastic audience for classical music.  His Friday afternoon Symphony Talks held at the University of North Carolina Asheville have become a community staple with a dedicated and enthusiastic following.

Committed to music education and young audiences, Mr. Meyer has developed a new series of Tiny Tots concerts for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra based on popular children’s books to promote music and literacy.  He has been featured on WQED-FM, KDKA-TV, in Pittsburgh Magazine, and has appeared as a guest lecturer at the Carnegie Mellon Business School.  Mr. Meyer and the PSO were awarded the 2006 Bank of America Award for Excellence in Orchestra Education for their groundbreaking work with the Wilkinsburg community in programs produced over five consecutive years.  In 2007, he led the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Pastime, based on the lives of the great American ballplayers Jackie Robinson, Josh Gibson, and Henry Aaron. 

In June 2008, Mr. Meyer will led the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony on their first ever tour to China.  In 2004, he led the Youth Symphony in a special performance at the first ever National Performing Arts Convention and conducted the orchestra on its first international tour in fifteen years to Vienna, Prague, Leipzig and Budapest in 2005. He also led the Youth Symphony in the world premiere of David Stock's Clarinet Concerto with soloist Richard Stoltzman and will conduct the premiere of a new work by John Harbison in May, 2009. 

Mr. Meyer was awarded the 2002 Aspen Conducting Prize after his second season as a fellowship Academy Conductor at the Aspen Music Festival.   His residency there culminated in a performance at the Blossom Festival, where he made his debut conducting the Cleveland Orchestra.  He subsequently served as Assistant Conductor to David Zinman and returned the following summer to lead a subscription performance.  Highlighting his commitment to new music and contemporary composers, Mr. Meyer conducted several premieres at Aspen, was featured on the Adventures in Listening new music series, and also appeared on National Public Radio’s Performance Today. 

In addition to the Cleveland Orchestra, Mr. Meyer has conducted the Utah, Forth Worth, San Antonio, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Mansfield, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Youngstown, Lexington, Portland, Santa Barbara, Lansing, and Wheeling Symphonies as well as orchestras at the Aspen Music Festival.  Mr. Meyer was featured at the American Symphony Orchestra League’s 2003 National Conductor Preview with the Jacksonville Symphony and made his debut at the Chautauqua Festival and Brevard Music Center last summer.

A native of Cleveland, Mr. Meyer is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He composed and conducted works for ensembles at both schools, including a Stabat Mater for soprano, chorus and orchestra.  As a doctoral student at Boston University, Mr. Meyer received the Orchestral Conducting Honors Award.  He also studied conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.  He is married to violist Mary Persin of the Biava Quartet, in residence at the Juilliard School.