Look to the right of the post title to find the orange audio play button to listen to KMFA's John Clare's interview with Roger Myers.
Roger Myers is a talented violist in Austin. He plays around the world, and teaches at the UT Butler School of Music. Myers plays a beautiful and rare J.B. Guadagnini viola from Parma made in 1763. He plays it on his CD, “Fantasy and Farewell” on the Delos label. Roger’s CD includes works by Schumann, Shostakovich and Mclean with the London Symphony Orchestra, described by the American Record Guide as “a masterpiece!” It was released in 2013 to worldwide acclaim winning “Best in Show” at the 2014 Global Music Awards.
Roger sat down with John Clare in the KMFA studios and talked about the works and recording. Michael McLean’s Suite for Viola and Chamber Orchestra was commissioned in 2005 in memory of Roger’s mother Leone Stredwick, an accomplished pianist. It was completed in the Spring 2008, and premiered by Myers at the Sunflower Music Festival in Topeka, KS in June 2008. It is a work in three movements: Prelude, Passacaglia, and Chorale; and written in a neo-Baroque style. Roger tells the story about how it all came about – with a link to Bach!
Find out more about Roger and his release "Fantasy and Farewell" at his website: http://rogermyersviola.com/html/