In Equal Measure
Jessica Meyer
Just recently, Iceland became the first country to legalize equal pay between men and women.
Specifically, companies with over 25 people have to prove in writing that if their male and female employees are doing the same work, they are indeed getting paid the same.
This past October, thousands of Icelandic women left work at 2:38 p.m. and demonstrated outside parliament to protest the gender pay gap.
Women’s rights groups calculate that after that time each day, women are working for free.
As part of this protest, they performed the traditional Viking "Thunderclap" to communicate their strength.
This quartet viscerally explores the various situations women find themselves in every day in their plight to have their work considered in equal measure to the men around them.
With playing that is “fierce and lyrical” and works that are “other-worldly” (The Strad) and “evocative” (New York Times), Jessica Meyer is a versatile composer and violist whose passionate musicianship radiates accessibility, generosity, and emotional clarity. As a soloist and member of the award-winning and critically-acclaimed contemporary music collective counter)induction, Jessica has premiered pieces for solo viola internationally – expanding the repertoire for viola by championing new works while also composing her own. Of her recent appearance at The TANK Center for Sonic Arts, where she wrote a solo piece on site for this destination concert venue that boasts a
20-second reverb, Alex Ross of the New Yorker says, “Meyer’s fierce-edged playing activated the Tank’s awe-inspiring properties.” Meyer’s compositions explore the wide palette of emotionally expressive colors available to each instrument while using traditional and extended techniques inspired by her varied experiences as a contemporary and period instrumentalist. Recent premieres include performances by the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth, cellist Amanda Gookin for her Forward Music Project at National Sawdust, soprano Melissa Wimbish for her Carnegie Hall debut, and NOVUS NY of Trinity Wall Street under the direction of Julian Wachner. Upcoming commissions include works for the PubliQuartet, flutist/dancer Zara Lawler, flutist Allison Loggins-Hull for her “Diametrically Composed” project, and Sandbox Percussion with vocal duo Two Cities.
