Acclaimed for her “polish, focus, and excitement” (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times), violist Jessica Meyer is a versatile performer who has been featured as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the world.   
 
As a committed advocate of new music, Ms. Meyer is the co-founder of the critically-acclaimed contemporary music collective counter)induction, which performs regularly in NYC and around the country. Jessica has premiered pieces for solo viola in New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and has played with ensembles such as Continuum, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, the Either/Or Ensemble, the Glass Farm Ensemble, and SONYC (the String Orchestra of New York City).

Jessica strives to perform a wide variety of chamber music and has appeared in many venues both large and small - including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and Miller Theatre in NYC, Symphony Hall in Boston, and the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.   She is also the founder of Piaclava - a touring clarinet, viola, and piano trio that is often called upon to perform interactive outreach concerts sponsored by Lincoln Center and various other educational organizations.
 
Equally at home with many other styles of music, Ms. Meyer has performed with singers ranging from Elton John and Sarah Brightman, to local blues artists such as Little Toby Walker and Big Mike and the Blue Streak. Throughout 2005, Jessica performed and improvised with tap dancer Savion Glover and his jazz band at NYC venues such as the Joyce Theater and B.B. King’s Blues Club, which then lead to the first U.S. tour of “Classical Savion.”

Jessica is committed to expanding the repertoire for viola by commissioning new works, and has recently started composing her own.  “Duende”, for solo viola and loop machine, was premiered in Washington D.C. in 2011 and explores the wide palette of sonic colors available to the viola while using traditional and extended techniques enhanced by the electronic process of looping material.  Currently, she tours with pianist Steven Beck, presenting recitals that feature living composers from each particular concert locale, a standard repertory piece, and works written by and for Ms. Meyer.
 
While studying with William Lincer, Heidi Castleman, and Misha Amory, Ms. Meyer earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School.