MEDIA CONTACT
Janelle Kruly
714.858.0945
janellek@reveilleinc.com

Michael Daugherty’s narrative was written for and commissioned by Anne Akiko Meyers, who joins the orchestra and Music Director Laureate Carl St.Clair, March 26-28

With exhilarating music that captures the thrill of flight, Pacific Symphony welcomes back global sensation and GRAMMY winning violinist Anne Akiko Meyers for the West Coast Premiere of Blue Electra (2022). Inspired by the daring life and mysterious disappearance of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), the violin concerto was composed by GRAMMY® Award winner Michael Daugherty—the Symphony’s longtime composer-in-residence—and written expressly for Meyers. Music Director Laureate Carl St.Clair returns to lead this piece alongside two additional works close to his heart: “The Flying Scene” from E.T. by John Williams and Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, a masterpiece of romantic grandeur. Titled “St.Clair Conducts Williams, Daugherty & Brahms,” the March 26-28 concerts close Women’s History Month with a soaring tribute to Earhart, named for the Lockheed Electra airplane that carried her into legend.

“Michael Daugherty’s Blue Electra [is]… a big, bold piece that’s vivid in its storytelling.”— The Strad

“I am deeply grateful to Michael Daugherty for his fertile imagination in creating this extraordinary violin concerto, inspired by American icon Amelia Earhart. I’d never really thought about Earhart before, but I’ve since become enamored with her personality and brave soul. You can’t help but think of what she went through in her very short time on earth. To fly as a female at that time in history in those tiny planes— she was the epitome of courage,” said Meyers, who has been called the “Wonder Woman of commissioning” (The Strad) for her enduring commitment to leaving a legacy of music for future generations.

Nearly 100 years ago, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. She was an advocate for women’s rights, an aviation professor at Purdue University, and the author of three books and numerous poems. Two movements of Blue Electra reflect her poetry and the others evoke key events—being honored at a “Hot Jazz” soirée in Paris after her solo transatlantic flight, and her tragic final attempt to circle the globe.

“Michael Daugherty served as Pacific Symphony’s composer-in-residence and has been a cherished friend and collaborator for many years,” said St.Clair. “We’ve had the privilege of performing and recording a number of his works, including To the New World, which appears on the same album as Anne’s recording of Blue Electra.”

“The connection to ‘The Flying Scene’ from E.T. felt irresistible,” he continued. “It’s also a tribute to my mentor and friend John Williams, who celebrates his 94th year. Together, these works invite the audience to take their own individual flights as we explore the themes of memory, courage, discovery, and freedom.”

Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E Minor is a remarkable work and has been performed by St.Clair and Pacific Symphony on numerous occasions. Bearing the feeling of living in the shadows of Beethoven, Brahms traveled to a quaint village in Austria. It was there, amongst nature and thought, that he created his fourth symphony, in which many listeners hear his farewell to the symphonic form.

Described humbly by Brahms as “a few entr’actes and polkas that I happened to have lying around,” Symphony No. 4 actually became one of the most profoundly dramatic, melancholic, and structurally vigorous works representing the late Romantic era in orchestral history. The opening movement is noble yet austere, the second conveys a walk through a beautiful landscape, and the finale encompasses the greatest emotional range of all of Brahms’ symphonic finales with exuberance and glittering percussion.

“It will be a joy to conduct the music of Johannes Brahms,” continued St.Clair. “When studying in Vienna, my conducting teacher, Walter Ducloux was close to someone who played in the cello section under the baton of Brahms when he conducted his Symphony No. 4. This musical lineage makes my connection to his music more intimate and personal. That, and the wonderful musicians of Pacific Symphony have a special sense and feeling for the music of Brahms, as we have been performing his music together for many years. I hope this will be felt among our audience members.”

“St.Clair Conducts Williams, Daugherty & Brahms,” takes place Thursday-Saturday, March 26-28 at 8 p.m. in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. The concert includes a preview talk with Classical California host Alan Chapman at 7 p.m. “Brahms’ Symphony No. 4” will be performed Sunday, March 29 at 3 p.m. with insights into the music from St.Clair before the piece is performed. Tickets start at $36. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (714) 755-5799 or visit pacificsymphony.org.

Pacific Symphony’s Classical Series is made possible by the Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, with additional support from Classical California, LAist, Avenue of the Arts Costa Mesa, The Park Club and PBS SoCal.

About Anne Akiko Meyers
Anne Akiko Meyers stands among the most influential violinists of our time. A GRAMMY® Award-winning artist with four decades of international acclaim, she is a defining force in contemporary music—both a muse and a fearless champion of today’s leading composers. Through her commissions, premieres, and recordings, she has helped reshape the modern violin repertoire. The Strad hails her as “the Wonder Woman of commissioning,” a title earned through her close collaborations with visionary composers such as Arvo Pärt, Einojuhani Rautavaara, John Corigliano, Arturo Márquez, Philip Glass, Michael Daugherty, Mason Bates, Adam Schoenberg, Billy Childs, Jakub Ciupiński, Ola Gjeilo, Morten Lauridsen, Wynton Marsalis, Somei Satoh, and Eric Whitacre.

In the 2025–26 season, Meyers premieres and releases Eric Whitacre’s The Pacific Has No Memory with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, including a performance with the Pacific Strings commemorating the first anniversary of the fires that devastated the Palisades and Altadena communities.

Her recent album Beloved, featuring Billy Childs’s In the Arms of the Beloved alongside works by Ola Gjeilo and Eric Whitacre with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance. Other recent releases include Michael Daugherty’s Blue Electra, with the Albany Symphony and David Alan Miller, and Philip Glass’s New Chaconne and Violin Concerto No. 1 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In 2024, her recording of Márquez’s Fandango with Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic earned two Latin GRAMMY® Awards: Best Classical Album and Best Contemporary Composition. Since its 2021 Hollywood Bowl premiere, Fandango has been performed more than 40 times with 16 orchestras worldwide, including the LA Phil’s triumphant return to Carnegie Hall after a 32-year absence. Meyers reprised the work at the Hollywood Bowl in September with the LA Philharmonic under Giancarlo Guerrero.

She has appeared twice on The Tonight Show, Tiny Desk, CBS Sunday Morning, NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Evening at Pops, Great Performances, The View, The Emmy Awards, and in a Countdown with Keith Olbermann segment that became the program’s third most-watched story of the year. She has appeared multiple times on the covers of Gramophone, Strings and The Strad and has released more than forty critically acclaimed recordings.

She has performed at numerous distinguished events, including the John Williams Hollywood Bowl Stage Naming, the Bicentennial Celebration of Australia; the opening of the Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia; the GRAMMY Salute to Music Legends honoring John Williams; for Emperor and Empress Akihito of Japan; for Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in a Museumplein Concert with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; an A&E broadcast of the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the 40th Pablo Casals Festival with the Montreal Symphony and Krzysztof Penderecki and “The Star-Spangled Banner” at T-Mobile Park in Seattle and Dodger Stadium. Her recording of Somei Satoh’s Birds in Warped Time II was part of the winning presentation for the World Trade Center Memorial design.

Meyers is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Distinguished Alumna Award and an Honorary Doctorate from The Colburn School, and is a member of the Asian Hall of Fame. She serves on the Boards of The Juilliard School and the Dudamel Foundation. She performs on the legendary 1741 Ex-Vieuxtemps Guarneri del Gesù violin, considered one of the finest-sounding violins in existence.

Born in San Diego and raised in Southern California, Meyers traveled eight hours round-trip from the Mojave Desert to Pasadena for lessons with Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld, practicing in the front of the family VW beetle. At 14, she moved to New York to study at The Juilliard School with Dorothy DeLay, Masao Kawasaki, and Felix Galimir; signed with management at 16; and recorded her debut album at 18 at Abbey Road Studios.

About Pacific Symphony
Pacific Symphony is the largest orchestra formed in the United States in the past 50 years and is ranked among the top orchestras in the U.S. by the League of American Orchestras. In 2024, Alexander Shelley was appointed to become Pacific Symphony’s third artistic leader, taking the title of Artistic and Music Director, beginning in the 2026-27 season. He is serving as Artistic and Music Director Designate during the 2025-26 season, which marks Pacific Symphony’s 47th season. Founded in 1978, the Symphony was led for 35 years by Carl St.Clair, who is honored with the title of Music Director Laureate starting in the 2025-26 season.

In its 47-year history, Pacific Symphony has gained national and international recognition, with recent highlights including a 2018 Carnegie Hall debut in celebration of composer Philip Glass; a five-city tour of China; and a PBS "Great Performances” broadcast of Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America. In 2024, Pacific Symphony released the world-premiere recording of Fiat Lux, a stirring new commission by composer Sir James MacMillan performed with long-time artistic partner Pacific Chorale. The Symphony has been recognized with multiple ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming and included among the country’s five most innovative orchestras by the League of American Orchestras.

With a purpose to lift the human spirit through the power of music, the Symphony is a cornerstone of the cultural landscape of Southern California, enriching lives and bringing communities together through creative and diverse programming. As the resident orchestra of the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, the Symphony presents more than 100 concerts and events each year and a rich array of education and community engagement programs, reaching more than 300,000 residents of all ages.

###