Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition, SPENCER MYER is garnering stellar audience and critical acclaim from around the globe, rapidly establishing himself as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation.

Following a summer that included an encore collaboration with the Miami String Quartet at Ohio’s Kent/Blossom Music and debuts at the Texas State International Piano Festival and New York’s Skaneateles Festival and The Stony Brook International Piano Festival, Spencer Myer includes in his current season a five-week return tour of South Africa, a return engagement with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, a debut with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and solo recitals throughout the United States.

Spencer Myer’s orchestral, recital and chamber music performances have been heard throughout North America, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland, Dayton and Louisiana philharmonic orchestras, the Baton Rouge, Bozeman, Glacier (MT), Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Phoenix, Richmond (IN), San Juan, Santa Fe, Southeast Iowa, Tucson and Wyoming symphony orchestras, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors Nicholas Cleobury, Neal Gittleman, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, Timothy Muffitt, Maurice Peress, Arthur Post, Matthew Savery, Klauspeter Seibel, Steven Smith, Arjan Tien and Victor Yampolsky. In May 2005, his recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. Mr. Myer made his debut at the famed festival of the Blossom Music Center during the summer of 2007.

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 for the Performing Arts and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as in Chicago, Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Knoxville, Logan, Salt Lake City and China, while many of his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago). An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with CSO members on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series and at the Bard, Cape Cod Chamber, Colorado and Meadowlark music festivals and performed with the Blair, Manhattan, Miami and Pacifica string quartets. In January 2007, Mr. Myer performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the Inaugural Festivities of Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher.

In 2004, Spencer Myer captured First Prize in the 10th UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as special prizes for the best performances of Bach, the commissioned work, the semifinal round recital and both concerto prizes in the final round. He is also a laureate in the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland, 2005 Busoni (where he was also awarded the Audience Prize), 2004 Montréal and 2003 New Orleans International Piano Competitions. Winner of the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association, Mr. Myer also received both of the competition’s special prizes in Chamber Music and Lieder Accompanying. He is also the winner of the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and subsequently enjoys a growing reputation as a vocal collaborator. Mr. Myer was a member of Astral Artists performance roster from 2003-2009, a result of his having won that organization’s 2003 national auditions.

An enthusiastic supporter of the education of young musicians, Spencer Myer has been a frequent guest artist at workshops for students and teachers, including Indiana’s Goshen College Piano Workshop and the Texas Conservatory for Young Artists in Dallas, and has served on the faculties of the Baldwin-Wallace College and Oberlin College conservatories of music. He devoted a month of his 2010 summer as a Staff Pianist at the Steans Institute Vocal Program of the renowned Ravinia Festival. Mr. Myer is also an advocate of contemporary music and inter-arts collaboration, and has worked with the Chicago- and New York-based ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Indianapolis’ Dance Kaleidoscope, Ohio Dance Theatre and New York City’s New Triad for Collaborative Arts and The Juilliard School’s “Composers and Choreographers” series.

Spencer Myer is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Julian Martin. Other teachers include Peter Takács, Joseph Schwartz and Christina Dahl. He spent two summers at the Music Academy of the West, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and, later, Vocal Accompanying with Warren Jones and Marilyn Horne. During the course of his undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he was the recipient of numerous awards from that institution, while, in 2000, he was named a recipient of a four-year Jacob K. Javits Memorial Fellowship from the United States Department of Education. His Doctor of Musical Arts degree was conferred by Stony Brook University in 2005.

Spencer Myer can be heard on the Dimension Records label, performing music of the late Cleveland composer Frederick Koch and on a composer-conducted Naxos CD in performances of three concerti from Huang Ruo’s Chamber Concerto Cycle. His debut CD for harmonia mundi usa - music of Busoni, Copland, Debussy and Kohs - was released in the fall of 2007.

BEETHOVEN
Concerto #1 in C, Op. 15
Concerto #2 in B-flat, Op. 19
Concerto #3 in c, Op. 37
Concerto #4 in G, Op. 58
Concerto #5 in E-flat, Op. 73 ("Emperor")
Fantasia in c, Op. 80 ("Choral Fantasy")
BRAHMS
Concerto #1 in d, Op. 15
CHOPIN
Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise, Op. 22
Concerto #1 in e, Op. 11
Concerto #2 in f, Op. 21
FALLA
Nights in the Gardens of Spain
GERSHWIN
Concerto in F
Rhapsody in Blue
Second Rhapsody
Variations on I Got Rhythm
GRIEG
Concerto in a, Op. 16
LISZT
Concerto #2 in A
MENDELSSOHN
Capriccio brilliant in b, Op. 22
MOZART
Concerto #9 in E-flat, K. 271
Concerto #24 in c, K. 491
Concerto #25 in C, K. 503
PROKOFIEV
Concerto #2 in g, Op. 16
RACHMANINOFF
Concerto #1 in f#, Op. 1 (rev. 1917)
Concerto #2 in c, Op. 18
Concerto #3 in d, Op. 30
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
RAVEL
Concerto in D for the Left Hand
Concerto in G
SAINT-SAËNS
Concerto #2 in g, Op. 22
Concerto #4 in c, Op. 44
Concerto #5 in F, Op. 103
SCHUMANN
Concerto in a, Op. 54
Konzertstück, Op. 92
SHOSTAKOVICH
Concerto #2 in F, Op. 102
STRAVINSKY
Concerto for Piano & Winds
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto #1 in b-flat, Op. 23

"With crisp timing, exquisite touch, and a firm grasp os musical proportion, American pianist Spencer Myer earned the top spot in the 20th annual New Orleans International Piano Competition. His 50-minute recital matched what veteran observers and the six-person jury had seen throughout the competition: an unruffled professional who consistently drew singing, lyrical sounds from his Steinway concert grand."
THE TIME-PICAYUNE (New Orleans)

"In an intimate space, an intricate performance fit for a king [headline]
The sense of immediacy was present throughout Chameleon’s concert, nowhere more so than in its centerpiece: an impassioned and broadly scaled performance of the Brahms Piano Quintet. One could hear and admire not just the familiar, surging themes but also the intricate details that often go unnoticed in the tumult. That intimacy also allowed one to appreciate the superb playing of guest pianist Spencer Myer, who anchored the Brahms with poised, alert musicianship and generous tone."
THE BOSTON GLOBE

"Spencer Myer is a pianist on the rise. His playing was a model of refinement, urgency and aristocratic vitality."
THE PLAIN DEALER (Cleveland)

"As the high-level piano recital regrettably recedes somewhat in concert life, it is comforting to know pianists still know how to put together smart programmes. American pianist Spencer Myer has compiled a programme with variations as the theme, seen through a disparate range of composers. This is a compelling and artful disc by a rising talent."
GRAMOPHONE

"Spencer Myer gave an impressive, elegant rendering of Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, earning a standing ovation and a trio of curtain calls. We would like to hear more from this young talent."
DAYTON DAILY NEWS

"Spencer Myer, who often plays here [with Haddonfield Symphony Orchestra] played the Ravel concerto with so much personal affection as to seem self-indulgent in another setting. But with Milanov’s ultra-sympathetic accompaniment and the hall’s close-range sound, you had to be thoroughly drawn in - so much that all the Chopin-esque touches more experienced pianists have unsuccessfully tried to bring to the piece seemed convincing from him."
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

"Not only is Myer an entirely finished artist, but his playing was so acutely logical yet expressive that the inimitable Mozartean magic of a great performance was patently evident.
THE CITIZEN (Johannesburg)

"There was plenty of lyricism in his interpretation [Prokofiev Sonata #7], and not only in the bitter song of the second movement. The finale - a fearsome juggernaut of syncopated, single-minded energy - wasn’t used as an excuse to hammer the listener into admiration. There was a lot of admiration to spare for Myer after the final pounding notes, however, as the audience erupted in cheers."
THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR

"Every time I thought I had pianist Spencer Myer’s abilities and limitations figured out, he obliterated each assessment. The only thing Myer turned out to be short of was stage theatrics; his considerable performance arsenal has everything else."
KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL

"Myer played Concerto No. 5 with panache and exhilarating fleetness. Most importantly, he showed an overall grasp of Beethoven’s characteristic idiom and method. He was always acutely sensitive to the composer’s many subtleties. Above all, he remained supremely poetic. It was nuanced playing to the hilt, warm as well as virtuosic. He fully deserved the ecstatic audience’s standing ovation."
PRETORIA NEWS

"I have to tell you to watch for Spencer Myer. Lately there haven’t been many Americans who stirred me as he did. We may be losing out to Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and Russians. But I’ll back him against them all."
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE

"If you could grant an award for most imaginative and thoughtful piano recital programming, Spencer Myer's solo debut would win hands down. I await his future CD releases with interest, and also hope to hear him in concert."
CLASSICS TODAY.com

"A new series from Harmonia Mundi USA presents three young American pianists, all fellows of the American Pianists Association and all destined for major careers. Classics of the American piano repertory are the main attraction; recording quality is excellent and the presentation, with informative booklet notes and the tasteful photos, entirely free of marketing hype. Spencer Myer starts splendidly with the premiere recording of a minor masterwork. Ellis Kohs, after studies with Piston and Stravinsky, spent most of his life teaching at the University of Southern California; his Variations on L'homme armé were written just after World War II. In around six minutes, Kohs puts the famous Renaissance tune through a dizzying variety of settings, moving from simple counterpoint to violent dissonance and back again. Myer's clarity of touch, rhythmic buoyancy and clean textures should win many new friends for this and Busoni's variations on Chopin's C minor Prelude."
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE

"Young pianist thrills audience [headline]
The gifted young American pianist, Spencer Myer, brought his impeccable performance skills to the Tennessee Theatre for the opening performance of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s 73rd season."
KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL

"PIANIST MYER OFFERS A RARE TREAT
Those who were in the audience for the Artist Series solo recital with pianist Spencer Myer can consider themselves lucky. Myer is a masterful artist who can thrill even the most jaded listener, which he did so thoroughly in his first Sarasota appearance. What was most striking about this program was the extreme breadth of style tackled by the soloist. Myer managed the delicacy and relative control of the Handel Suite, ventured into modernism with Janacek and back again to early Romanticism with Beethoven and Schubert, doing so with a firm scholarly basis for his expressive fluency."
SARASOTA HERALD TRIBUNE