Remembering A Fire’s Devastation, Violinist Offers Balm Of Music
By Paul Bodine - January 9, 2026. (Photos by Elizabeth Asher)
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Like a haunting reversion-to-nature scene, the quiet seaside community of Pacific Palisades appeared surprisingly green and lush Jan. 7 after winter rains. It was eerily quiet, the rare ostinato of construction hammers and whir of power screwdrivers overwhelmed by the vastness of empty lots, like silent gravesites. Exactly one year after a catastrophic fire that claimed 12 lives and destroyed 6,833 homes (the largest fire ever in Los Angeles in terms of structures lost), Pacific Palisades courageously mounted a one-year commemoration concert at the community’s Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church, whose original building was destroyed by wildfire in 1978.
As Thomas Neenan, a member of St. Matthew’s Music Guild Board of Directors, bluntly confirmed, the concert was largely the work of one person — violinist and local resident Anne Akiko Meyers. “Anne has been the driving force behind everything that’s happened today,” he said.
The arson-caused firestorm that destroyed the neighborhood on Jan. 7, 2025, had direct effects on Los Angeles’ musical community. Not only did countless musicians lose homes and instruments, some historically significant, but it also took down local landmarks like Belmont Music Publishers, founded by Arnold Schoenberg’s son, home to thousands of now destroyed Schoenberg scores and parts. Meyers’ home, though damaged, was largely spared.
The violinist’s identification with Pacific Palisades, where she’s lived since 2016, runs deep. She was raised in Los Angeles, where one of her daughters attended the St. Matthews Parish School. Proceeds from the January 7 concert supported four arts organizations, and Meyers serves on the Board of Trustees of The Juilliard School and The Dudamel Foundation.
The Pacific Has No Memory
Everything changed on January 7, 2025
I never imagined we would evacuate our home in the Palisades—a place alive with laughter, music, and the joyful chaos of my husband, our two young daughters, and crazy rescue dog—never to return.
So many dear friends lost everything: cherished family heirlooms, photographs, instruments, and music libraries that had taken a lifetime to build—all vanished in moments. That evening, from our hotel window, I watched the fires rage through the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains and sobbed, completely helpless.
Yet from the ash and destruction, something profoundly beautiful emerged—much like the glowing fairy at the end of Fantasia, rising from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.
I commissioned Eric Whitacre to write a new work for violin and orchestra, and as the world changed, so did his composition. Little did I know that The Pacific Has No Memory would be born from these epic tragedies. This music has become salve for the soul—a warm, healing embrace for my broken heart. Tender and profound, it radiates love, hope, and renewal.
I am eternally grateful to Eric Whitacre for creating this musical prayer and to the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra for breathing life into it together. This recording is dedicated to all who were affected by the Los Angeles fires, and to the brave first responders who risked everything to save lives.
- Anne Akiko Meyers
San Francisco Classical Voice: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Takes Music Into Her Own Hands
Already a seasoned performer at age 11, when she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, now 53, is still riding high. A champion of contemporary composers, she has also collaborated with today’s most celebrated conductors, orchestras, and presenters.
Next weekend, Feb. 16–18, Meyers takes the reins of the Laguna Beach Music Festival as this year’s artistic director, performing in three programs, the first of which features works by Arvo Pärt and Heitor Villa-Lobos, as well as a world premiere by Philip Glass. Hailed as “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad magazine, the violinist was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for her live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil of Arturo Márquez’s concerto Fandango, written for her in 2021.
Born in San Diego, Meyers began violin lessons with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Community School of Performing Arts (now the Colburn School) before moving to New York at age 14 to study at The Juilliard School with the legendary teacher Dorothy DeLay. Just four years later, Meyers recorded her debut album, which featured concertos by Samuel Barber and Max Bruch, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios.
San Francisco Classical Voice
By Victoria Looseleaf
Already a seasoned performer at age 11, when she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, now 53, is still riding high. A champion of contemporary composers, she has also collaborated with today’s most celebrated conductors, orchestras, and presenters.
Next weekend, Feb. 16–18, Meyers takes the reins of the Laguna Beach Music Festival as this year’s artistic director, performing in three programs, the first of which features works by Arvo Pärt and Heitor Villa-Lobos, as well as a world premiere by Philip Glass. Hailed as “the Wonder Woman of commissioning” by The Strad magazine, the violinist was recently nominated for a Grammy Award for her live recording with Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Phil of Arturo Márquez’s concerto Fandango, written for her in 2021.
Born in San Diego, Meyers began violin lessons with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld at the Community School of Performing Arts (now the Colburn School) before moving to New York at age 14 to study at The Juilliard School with the legendary teacher Dorothy DeLay. Just four years later, Meyers recorded her debut album, which featured concertos by Samuel Barber and Max Bruch, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) at Abbey Road Studios.
Read more here.
BBC Music Magazine: Amelia Earhart: how the tragic story of the aviation pioneer inspired a thrilling new violin concerto for Anne Akiko Meyers
Legendary adventurer and feminist icon Amelia Earhart set two world records in 1932 – flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 15 hours, becoming the first woman and only the second person in history to do so; and subsequently flying non-stop across the US, again the first time a woman had achieved the feat.
These magnificent records made Earhart an instant worldwide sensation. Independent and adventurous since childhood, she knew on her very first flight in December 1920 with experienced pilot Frank Hawks that her place was in the air. ‘As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly,’ she revealed.
BBC Music Magazine
By Charlotte Smith
Legendary adventurer and feminist icon Amelia Earhart set two world records in 1932 – flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean in 15 hours, becoming the first woman and only the second person in history to do so; and subsequently flying non-stop across the US, again the first time a woman had achieved the feat.
These magnificent records made Earhart an instant worldwide sensation. Independent and adventurous since childhood, she knew on her very first flight in December 1920 with experienced pilot Frank Hawks that her place was in the air. ‘As soon as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly,’ she revealed.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
KUSC: Classical Californians: Anne Akiko Meyers
This week, our Classical Californian will be violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who will share some of her favorite pieces of music. The playlist includes two composers who have written concertos for her, some selections from the world of movie music, as well as works by a pair of composers best known for their writing for choral voices. The Southern California native has most recently released a recording of Fandango by Arturo Márquez, with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s worked with a who’s who of contemporary composers, and since making her first national TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when she was 11, she’s been performing to admiring audiences around the world. The instrument that she plays, the “Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù” dates from 1741, and belonged to the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps in the 1800s.
KUSC
This week, our Classical Californian will be violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, who will share some of her favorite pieces of music. The playlist includes two composers who have written concertos for her, some selections from the world of movie music, as well as works by a pair of composers best known for their writing for choral voices. The Southern California native has most recently released a recording of Fandango by Arturo Márquez, with Gustavo Dudamel leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She’s worked with a who’s who of contemporary composers, and since making her first national TV appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson when she was 11, she’s been performing to admiring audiences around the world. The instrument that she plays, the “Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù” dates from 1741, and belonged to the Belgian violinist Henri Vieuxtemps in the 1800s.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Dina Douglass
NPR: Anne Akiko Meyers: Tiny Desk Concert
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half expected her to be flanked by bodyguards. After all, she was carrying a very rare instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù "Vieuxtemps" violin, built in 1741, is worth at least $16 million. Instead, Meyers arrived only with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She seemed nonchalant about the fact that her fiddle is worth a fortune.
What matters, naturally, is how the instrument sounds and few can make a violin sing as sweetly as Meyers. The San Diego native was already performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11. Three years later she enrolled in New York's Juilliard School and at 18 cut the first of her 40-some albums.
NPR
By Tom Huizenga
When violinist Anne Akiko Meyers walked into NPR headquarters, I half expected her to be flanked by bodyguards. After all, she was carrying a very rare instrument. Her Guarneri del Gesù "Vieuxtemps" violin, built in 1741, is worth at least $16 million. Instead, Meyers arrived only with a pair of publicists and the perceptive pianist Max Levinson. She seemed nonchalant about the fact that her fiddle is worth a fortune.
What matters, naturally, is how the instrument sounds and few can make a violin sing as sweetly as Meyers. The San Diego native was already performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 11. Three years later she enrolled in New York's Juilliard School and at 18 cut the first of her 40-some albums.
Read more here or watch below.
San Francisco Classical Voice: Anne Akiko Meyers Brings Fandango to Symphony San José
Symphony San José’s concert on May 6 at the California Theatre featured Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist in Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s new violin concerto, Fandango. Meyers requested the work from Márquez and gave the first performance, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in August 2021. Since then, she has been taking the piece around on her guest appearances.
So it’s fortunate that when San José’s intended guest conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, withdrew for personal reasons less than two weeks before the concert, the Symphony was able to secure José Luis Gómez, music director of the Tucson Symphony, as a replacement. He had conducted Meyers in this same concerto in a Tucson program last September.
San Francisco Classical Voice
By David Bratman
Symphony San José’s concert on May 6 at the California Theatre featured Anne Akiko Meyers as soloist in Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s new violin concerto, Fandango. Meyers requested the work from Márquez and gave the first performance, with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, in August 2021. Since then, she has been taking the piece around on her guest appearances.
So it’s fortunate that when San José’s intended guest conductor, Tatsuya Shimono, withdrew for personal reasons less than two weeks before the concert, the Symphony was able to secure José Luis Gómez, music director of the Tucson Symphony, as a replacement. He had conducted Meyers in this same concerto in a Tucson program last September.
Meyers had been inspired to approach Márquez after hearing the composer’s Danzón No. 2, a boundlessly joyful expression of the character of Veracruz’s dance music that’s become something of a signature piece for Dudamel. Meyers hoped that Márquez could import something of the same spirit into a violin concerto. It turned out that the composer, whose father was a mariachi violinist, had already been thinking along those lines.
Read more here.
Photo Credit: Allen Murabayashi
The Washington Post: NSO’s ‘Wind & Wave’ celebrates the sea, but ignores the tide
This guy right here loves a theme. When orchestras build a night of music around a central idea — be it a topic, a color, an era, a season — it offers listeners a comfy couch of context that allows us to settle in and feel situated. Having a theme also allows us to hear pieces of music in fresh dialogue with one another.
More to the point of this review, sometimes a theme just provides a good enough excuse to invite old friends over for a party, as was the case with the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Wind & Wave” concert on Thursday (repeating Friday and Saturday nights). This sea-and-sky-inspired selection brought together works from Richard Wagner (the overture to “Der fliegende Holländer”), Samuel Barber (“Night Flight”) and Claude Debussy (“La Mer”).
The Washington Post
By Michael Andor Brodeur
The National Symphony Orchestra’s sea-and-sky themed program features violinist Anne Akiko Meyers in a world premiere by Michael Daugherty
This guy right here loves a theme. When orchestras build a night of music around a central idea — be it a topic, a color, an era, a season — it offers listeners a comfy couch of context that allows us to settle in and feel situated. Having a theme also allows us to hear pieces of music in fresh dialogue with one another.
More to the point of this review, sometimes a theme just provides a good enough excuse to invite old friends over for a party, as was the case with the National Symphony Orchestra’s “Wind & Wave” concert on Thursday (repeating Friday and Saturday nights). This sea-and-sky-inspired selection brought together works from Richard Wagner (the overture to “Der fliegende Holländer”), Samuel Barber (“Night Flight”) and Claude Debussy (“La Mer”).
Read more here.
Photo Credits: Jati Lindsay
Strings: Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers Continues Passionate Advocacy of New Music with Recent Concerto Commission Inspired by Amelia Earhart
For a good two decades, Anne Akiko Meyers has made it a hallmark of her artistic mission to expand the literature for her instrument by inviting living composers to write something new—and then championing the results with total commitment. It’s an undertaking not recommended for the risk averse. While playing the mainstream repertoire entails having a tradition to fall back on whenever doubts arise, being the first to introduce a composition to the public can resemble setting out on a tightrope walk without a safety net.
This intrepid attitude makes Meyers an ideal advocate for Michael Daugherty’s new violin concerto, Blue Electra, which is inspired by the legacy of the boldly adventurous aviatrix Amelia Earhart. From November 10–12 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Meyers will give the work its world premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra led by Gianandrea Noseda.
Strings Magazine
By Thomas May
November-December 2022 issue of Strings Magazine
For a good two decades, Anne Akiko Meyers has made it a hallmark of her artistic mission to expand the literature for her instrument by inviting living composers to write something new—and then championing the results with total commitment. It’s an undertaking not recommended for the risk averse. While playing the mainstream repertoire entails having a tradition to fall back on whenever doubts arise, being the first to introduce a composition to the public can resemble setting out on a tightrope walk without a safety net.
This intrepid attitude makes Meyers an ideal advocate for Michael Daugherty’s new violin concerto, Blue Electra, which is inspired by the legacy of the boldly adventurous aviatrix Amelia Earhart. From November 10–12 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Meyers will give the work its world premiere with the National Symphony Orchestra led by Gianandrea Noseda.
Read more here.
Photo Credits: Molina Visuals (Top); Kaupo Kikkas (Cover)