Spencer Myer has rapidly established himself as one of the most outstanding young pianists of his generation. Myer is the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellow of the American Pianists Association, winning in April 2006 one of two $75,000 fellowships offered through the APA's unique and innovative competition process. In 2004, Mr. Myer captured First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, in addition to special prizes for the Best Performances of Bach, the Commissioned Work, the Semifinal Round recital, a concerto in the first leg of the finals, and a concerto in the second leg of the finals. He has also garnered First Prizes in the 2002 Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition, the 2003 Artists International New York Debut Auditions, and the 2003 Five Towns Music & Art Foundation Competition, in addition to being a prizewinner in the 2003 New Orleans International Piano Competition and the 2004 Montreal International Piano Competition. The Ohio native's other accolades include First Prizes in the 2000 Grace Welsh International Competition, the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, the 1999 Akron Tuesday Musical Club Competition and the 1997 Kosciuszko Foundation Chicago Chopin Competition.
Mr. Myer's performances as a recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra have taken him throughout North America, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia, and have been broadcast on WQXR in New York, WCLV in Cleveland and WFMT in Chicago. He has performed with such prestigious ensembles as the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic and the Pacifica String Quartet, in venues such as New York's Steinway Hall, 92nd Street Y, Alice Tully Hall, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, and London's Wigmore Hall. In October 2003, he made his New York recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and recently made his Asian debut in Beijing with the China National Symphony Orchestra. As a result of the UNISA Competition, he toured throughout South Africa in May 2005 which included a performance of the five Beethoven concerti with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa.
An avid supporter of the education of young musicians, he has been a frequent guest artist at workshops for young students and teachers, including the Goshen College Piano Workshop in Goshen, Indiana, and the Texas Conservatory for Young Artists in Dallas, Texas. As an advocate of contemporary music and inter-arts collaboration, he has worked with the Chicago and New York based ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Dance Kaleidoscope of Indianapolis, the Ohio Dance Theater, and New York's New Triad Foundation, in addition to performing on Juilliard's Composers and Choreographers series. In demand as a collaborator, his work with singers has led to partnerships through organizations such as the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Meridian Song Project of Indianapolis, the Vocal Arts Resource Network of Ohio, and New York's Piatigorsky Foundation.
A recent graduate of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Julian Martin, Myer studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and his past teachers have included Peter Takács, Joseph Schwartz, Robert Mayerovitch, Coren Estrin Kleve and Ju-Ying Song. Mr. Myer completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University, where he studied with Christina Dahl. During the summer of 1998 he studied at Santa Barbara's Music Academy of the West with Jerome Lowenthal, and vocal accompanying during the summer of 2000 with the renowned accompanist Warren Jones and mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.
Spencer Myer will be performing on The Phoenix Symphony's "By Request" program April 10-12, 2008.