For those unaware, everything changed on January 7th, 2025, for violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and so many of her fellow-Los Angelenos. The Palisades fires uprooted lives and legacies, family heirlooms, musical instruments and historic libraries. Los Angeles was home to Eric Whitacre for 25 years.

As fate would have it, he was flying into the city on January 8th, 2025 for a visit, only to witness the smudgy black smoke over the skies and homes and histories being destroyed. Yet from the ash and destruction, something beautiful emerged.

Anne had already commissioned Eric Whitacre to write a new work for violin and orchestra, and as the world changed, so did his composition. The Pacific Has No Memory was born from those epic tragedies. The music is tender and profound, radiating love, hope and renewal. The piece takes its title from a line in the film The Shawshank Redemption, when the character Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) dreams of a life near the ocean where his past is a memory, a place where the blue of the Pacific Ocean will give him a chance to start anew.

Anne, backed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, dedicates this recording to all who were affected by the Los Angeles fires, and to the brave first responders who risked everything to save lives.

1. The Pacific Has No Memory (7:45)

Anne Akiko Meyers, violin
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

The Pacific Has No Memory - Eric Whitacre’s co-commission with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Music Festival, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Anne Akiko Meyers - is an incredible, simply heavenly near eight-minute work of musical art that, at times, beautifully overrides words as you just sink into its ample melodiously sculpted bosom.

Overall, this is a stunning performance, one where the strings feel so hauntingly alive that the instrumental music is like a singing voice all of its own. A genuine source of music for the soul, it is organically refreshing and a piece that can be lovingly listened to time and time again.

The Pacific Has No Memory (World Premiere at Carnegie Hall) - [Official Video]

Official Purchase Link

www.anneakikomeyers.com

www.ericwhitacre.com