Anne Akiko Meyers' New Release, "Mysterium"

Recorded alongside the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the disc showcases new arrangements of works by J. S. Bach and Morten Lauridsen

Titled "Mysterium," violinist Anne Akiko Meyers's disc covers well-known works in new arrangements for violin and chorus. Meyers recorded these pieces alongside the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

The disc opens with three arrangements of excerpts from the cantatas of J. S. Bach, beginning with Samuel Adler's version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring."

"I had fantasized about hearing and performing this music for violin and choir, so it was amazing to bring it to life!" Meyers told The Violin Channel.

Two more cantata movements — "Sheep May Safely Graze" and "Wachet Auf (Sleepers, Wake)" — are also included, this time in arrangements by Len Rhodes.

Crowning the release is an arrangement of the popular choral work O Magnum Mysterium, by the American composer Morten Lauridsen. The piece was originally written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1994, and the composer had also made two different violin arrangements of the work specifically for Meyers.

"Grant Gershon, the conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and a long-time collaborator since childhood, and I, thought an arrangement for violin and choir would work well, which led to this new version," Meyers said.

"It was a very collaborative process and I am pleased with the results and the recordings," she added. "Working with Grant Gershon and the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Walt Disney Hall was a total dream come true!"

"Mysterium" is available on a range of streaming services, and can be purchased here.

Meyers plays a 1741 “Ex-Vieuxtemps” Guarneri del Gesù violin with Larsen Il Canone Soloist Strings . She is a Larsen artist.

You can hear Meyers and the Los Angeles Master Chorale performing Lauridsen's new arrangement of O Magnum Mysterium below.