Spencer Myer

Indiana University, Bloomington

Lauded for “superb playing” and “poised, alert musicianship” by the Boston Globe, and labeled “definitely a man to watch” by London’s The Independent, American pianist SPENCER MYER is one of the most respected and sought-after artists on today’s concert stage.

Spencer Myer’s orchestral, recital and chamber music performances have been heard throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, the Boise, Dayton, Rhode Island, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestras, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Baton Rouge, Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Omaha, Phoenix, Santa Fe and Tucson Symphony Orchestras, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Mexico’s Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors Michael Christie, Leslie B. Dunner, Arthur Fagen, Robert Franz, Bernhard Gueller, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, Rossen Milanov, Timothy Muffitt, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Kevin Rhodes, Lucas Richman, Steven Smith, Thomas Wilkins and Victor Yampolsky. His 2005 recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, followed by six return orchestra and recital tours.

Spencer Myer’s recital appearances have been presented in New York City’s Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y and Steinway Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center and London’s Wigmore Hall, while many of his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago). An in-demand chamber musician, he has appeared numerous summers at the Lev Aronson Legacy Festival in Dallas with cellists Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Amit Peled and Brian Thornton, and has enjoyed a recurring partnership for over a decade with the Miami String Quartet at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival.  Other artistic partners have included clarinetist David Shifrin, sopranos Nicole Cabell, Martha Guth and Erin Wall, the Jupiter and Pacifica String Quartets and the Dorian Wind Quintet.

Spencer Myer’s career was launched with three important prizes: First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa, the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the Gold Medal from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland and 2005 Busoni International Piano Competitions. He enjoys an esteemed reputation as a vocal collaborator since winning the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. Mr. Myer was a member of Astral Artists’ performance roster from 2003-2010.

A renowned pedagogue, Spencer Myer is currently Associate Professor of Piano at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he received the 2024 Trustees Teaching Award.  Previously, he has served as a guest faculty at the Oberlin and Baldwin-Wallace Conservatories of Music, and was a member of the Piano Faculty of Boston’s Longy School of Music of Bard College from 2016 to 2022.  He currently serves on the Board of New York’s Musicians Foundation and Brooklyn Art Song Society.

Spencer Myer’s debut CD for harmonia mundi usa – solo music of Busoni, Copland, Debussy and Kohs – was released in the fall of 2007 to critical acclaim by Fanfare and Gramophone magazines. Mr. Myer has released five recordings on the Steinway & Sonslabel since 2017:  Piano Rags of William Bolcom, three discs with cellist Brian Thornton encompassing cello/piano repertoire of Brahms, Debussy and Schumann, and most recently Chopin’s Four Impromptus.

Spencer Myer is a Steinway Artist.

About

alexander kobrin
saturday, august 9, 2025 7:00 pm
christ church cathedral
haochen zhang
tuesday, august 12, 2025 7:00 pm
christ church cathedral

Sergei Babayan in recital

August 9, 2024 7:00PM Chirst Church Cathedral

Franz Schubert [transcr. Franz Liszt] (1797 - 1828)
Der Müller und der Bach S. 565 No. 2
Aufenthalt S. 560 No. 3
Auf dem Wasser zu singen S. 558 No. 2
Die Stadt S. 558 No. 11
Gretchen am Spinnrade S. 558 No. 8
Ständchen „Horch! Horch!“ S. 558 No. 9
Erlkönig S. 558 No. 4

Robert Schumann [transcr. Franz Liszt] (1810 - 1856)
Liebeslied (Widmung) S. 566

Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886)
Hymne de la nuit S. 173a/1
"Romance" in E Minor S. 169 "O pourquoi donc"

Manuel María Ponce (1882 - 1948)
Intermezzo No. 1

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943)
"Where beauty dwells" from Twelve Songs, Op. 21 No. 7
[transcr. Arcadi Volodos]

"Melody" from Twelve Songs Op. 21
[transcr. Arcadi Volodos]

"Dream" from Six Songs Op. 38
[transcr. Earl Wild]

Fritz Kreisler (1875 - 1962)
"Liebesleid"
[transcr. Sergei Rachmaninoff]

INTERMISSION

Frederic Mompou (1893 - 1987)
Canción No. 6
Canción No. 8
Canción No. 7
from “Cançons i Danses”

Komitas (1869 - 1935)
Chinar es
[transcr. Villy Sargsyan]

Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957)
V Kuusi “The Spruce”
from Five pieces for piano, Op. 75

Harold Arlen (1905 - 1986)
"Over the Rainbow"
[transcr. Keith Jarrett]

Leonid Desyatnikov (1955 - present)
"Red arrowwood, green leaves"
from Songs of Bukovina No. 18

Jesús Guridi (1886 - 1961)
"La carrasquilla"
from Danzas viejas

Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963)
"Einleitung und Lied"
from Klaviermusik, Op. 37 Pt. 2 "Reihe kleiner Stücke"

Komitas (1869 - 1935)
Berceuse
1. Semplice from Seven Songs
[transcr. Georgy Saradjian]

Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875)
Chants du Rhin: I. L'aurore

Stephen Reynolds (1947 - present)
"Chanson d'automne"
from Two Poems in Homage to Fauré

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
Improvisation No. 15 in C Minor
"Hommage à Edith Piaf" FP 176

Gabriel Fauré (1845 - 1924)
"Au bord de l'eau", Op. 8 No. 1
[transcr. Sergei Babayan]

Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963)
"Les chemins de l'amour"

Charles Trenet (1913 - 2001)
"En avril à Paris"
[transcr. Alexis Weissenberg]

George Gershwin (1898 - 1937)
"Oh lady, be good!"
[transcr. Maurice Whitney]

Johann Strauss II (1825 - 1899)
Arabesken über „An der schönen blauen Donau“
[transcr. Andrey Schulz-Evler]