Robert Mealy
Teaches
About
Robert Mealy is one of America’s most prominent Baroque violinists. The New York Times commented that “Mr. Mealy seems to foster excellence wherever he goes;” the New Yorker has called him "New York's world-class early music violinist." Mr. Mealy began exploring early music in high school, first with the collegium of UC Berkeley and then at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied harpsichord and baroque violin. While still an undergraduate at Harvard College, he was asked to join the Canadian baroque orchestra Tafelmusik; after graduating, he began to perform with Les Arts Florissants. Since then, he has recorded and toured with a wide range of distinguished early music ensembles both in America and Europe, and led orchestras for Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, Andrew Parrott, Paul Agnew, Nicholas McGegan, and Helmuth Rilling, among many others. As Orchestra Director for the Boston Early Music Festival, he has led the BEMF orchestra in festival productions, international tours, and Grammy-award-winning recordings for over a decade. In New York City, he is principal concertmaster at Trinity Wall Street, where he has led all of Bach's cantatas and many Handel oratorios. A devoted chamber musician, he co-directs Quicksilver, an ensemble exploring the virtuosic music of the seventeenth century. Their recordings and festival appearances have delighted audiences across America. In 2018 he made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall. He has appeared at international music festivals from Berkeley to Belgrade and from Melbourne to Edinburgh, and is a regularly featured artist at Les Jardins de William Christie.
Mr. Mealy has directed the Historical Performance Program at The Juilliard School since 2012, and has led his Juilliard students in acclaimed performances both in New York and abroad, including tours to Europe, India, New Zealand, and Bolivia. Before coming to Juilliard, he taught for many years at Yale and Harvard. He has received Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding teaching and scholarship. He still likes to practice.