Ari Benjamin Meyers

Ari Benjamin Meyers
Birth name Ari Benjamin Meyers
Born June 20, 1972
Origin Long Island, New York, U.S.
Genres classical, minimal, rock, experimental, conceptual
Occupation(s) Artist, Composer, Conductor
Instruments piano, keyboards
Years active 1996–present
Labels Potomak, Exile on Mainstream
Associated acts Redux Orchestra
Einstürzende Neubauten celan
Website www.aribenjaminmeyers.com

Ari Benjamin Meyers (born June 20, 1972 in New York) is an American trained composer and conductor working in the in the field of contemporary art. He is also active in the experimental / electronic / new music scene in Germany.

While primarily known for his work with the ground breaking dance club-orchestral mash-up, Redux Orchestra, he has also worked with many other artists including the band Einstürzende Neubauten. Other collaborators include Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Anri Sala, Tino Sehgal, La Fura dels Baus, The Residents, raumlabor.berlin, Ricardo Villalobos, Staatsoper Dresden, Staatskapelle Berlin, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, Morton Subotnick and The Orb.

Meyers' catalog as a composer includes operas, music for plays, dance, and film as well as music for diverse chamber ensembles. As evidenced by his arrangements for the live performances Redux Orchestra versus Einstürzende Neubauten, Meyers’ work often takes the form of productive sabotages: he constructs and deconstructs musical situations and deliberately plays on the expectations of a given audience. Although personally distancing himself from the term “Crossover”, his work is often discussed within that context.

He is represented by the gallery Esther Schipper in Berlin.

Biography

Born 1972 in New York, he began his musical training at the age of five on the piano. Between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, he studied piano and composing at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division. During this time, he spent two summers at the Tanglewood Institute as a composer. It was here that he met Leonard Bernstein, who encouraged him to pursue conducting. He then attended Yale University where he majored in composition and studied under Jacob Druckman, Anthony Davis, and Martin Bresnick. At the same time, he was pursuing his conducting studies privately in New York with Laszlo Halasz. In his last two years at Yale, he was music director of the Yale Undergraduate Opera Company and conductor of the Yale Bach Society Orchestra and Chorus; here he presented programs of mostly new music, including the commissioning of composer Michael Gordon’s first orchestral work. In the summer of 1993 he had a conducting internship at the Bavarian State Opera, where he had the opportunity to work with Wolfgang Sawallisch. After graduating with a B.A. (cum laude) from Yale University, he went on to receive his M.M. in conducting from Peabody Conservatory, where he studied under Frederik Prausnitz. He was the recipient there of a conducting fellowship and was named assistant in the conducting department. Throughout his classical training, Meyers was a member of various East-Coast rock bands.

In 1996 he came to Berlin on a Fulbright scholarship. After getting involved in the German avant-garde music scene, he remained, currently residing in Kreuzberg.

Discography

Production:

Appears On:

Opera/Music Theater

Music for Stage Works

Concert Works

Film Scores

Conductor Credits

Art-Related Projects