In-gallery performance of Five Studies and a Postlude, written and performed by Will Myers.

The performance juxtaposes large-scale, abstract visual art pieces with smaller, delicate sounds of a solo viola. It was commissioned for the Chicago presentation of Solidary & Solitary by the Smart Museum’s Student Advisory Committee. Doors open at 6:30 pm. A reception will follow the performance. 

FREE, open to all. 

Will Myers writes music that is concerned with memory and fragility, as well as the agency, labor, consent, and physicality of the performer(s). His work has been performed by Yarn/Wire, Spektral Quartet, Quatuor Bozzini, Vertixe Sonora, [Switch~ Ensemble], pianists Daniel Pesca and John McDonald, and conductors Gil Rose, John Page, and Lio Kuokman. His first orchestral piece, Bright Shadows, won New England Conservatory’s inaugural orchestral composition competition in 2013 and was premiered in Jordan Hall. 

Will is pursuing a PhD at the University of Chicago and holds degrees from New England Conservatory and Tufts University in composition, music theory, and cognitive science. He has studied composition with Augusta Read Thomas, Sam Pluta, Anthony Cheung, Marta Ptaszyńska, Kati Agócs, John Heiss, and John McDonald.

Will is also a conductor, violist, and violinist. He served as assistant conductor and principal violist of the Tufts University orchestras from 2013 to 2015, and has premiered works by many composers as a conductor and a performer. As a violist and arranger, he is half of the video game music cover duo Frog & Cid, whose debut album Boss Chamber Music was released in 2016.

Photo by Erik L. Peterson.