Anne Akiko Meyers' brand new album, Serenade: The Love Album is an exploration of love in all its dimensions, featuring Leonard Bernstein's Serenade and ten world premieres from seven living composer-arrangers. The Serenade is based on a reading of Plato's Symposium, in which seven ancient Greek philosophers debate their thoughts about love at a raucous dinner party. Meyers thought it fitting to pair Serenade with newly commissioned love-inspired music from seven living arrangers.

For those that don't know, Meyers is an American concert violinist. Meyers has toured and collaborated with a number of symphony orchestras, Il Divo, Chris Botti, and Wynton Marsalis. Meyers was also featured on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann on October 26th, 2010. Indeed, she was the top selling classical instrumentalist of 2014 on Billboard's traditional classical charts.

Bernstein's sweeping, five-movement concert piece, written for violin, strings, harp, and percussion was premiered by Isaac Stern in Venice, Italy, on September 12th, 1954, with the composer conducting. Serenade is Bernstein's most direct piece about love, his examination of his own romantic life and his reaction to what's discussed in Symposium.

Bernstein even went as far as originally titling the work Symposium, but changed the title because it seemed too academic. Speaking to his biographer Humphrey Burton, Bernstein revealed later that he regretted the name change; he wanted listeners to know what the music was based on and why its ideas ran deeper than the music.

1. I. Phaedrus; Pausanias (Lento; Allegro marcato)
2. II. Aristophanes (Allegretto)
3. III. Eryximachus (Presto)
4. IV. Agathon (Adagio)
5. V. Socrates; Alcibiades (Molto tenuto; Allegro molto vivace)
6. Ennio Morricone & Andrea Morricone: ‘Love Theme’ from “Cinema Paradiso” (arr. Angela Morley)
7. David Raksin: Laura* (arr. Brad Dechter)
8. George Gershwin: Someone to Watch Over Me* (arr. Brad Dechter)
9. George Gershwin: Summertime* (arr. Brad Dechter)
10. Ennio Morricone: ‘Gabriel's Oboe’* from “The Mission” (arr. J.A.C. Redford)
11. Michel Colombier: ‘Emmanuel* (arr. Steven Mercurio)
12. Jacob Gade: Jalousie* (arr. Matthew Naughtin)
13 Astor Piazzolla: Oblivion* (arr. Peter von Weinhardt)
14. Leigh Harline: Wish Upon A Star* (arr. Adam Schoenberg & Steven Schoenberg)
15. Sammy Fain: I'll Be Seeing You* (arr. Brad Dechter)
16. Leonard Bernstein: ‘Somewhere’* from “West Side Story” (arr. J.A.C. Redford)

To match the seven philosophers who inspired Serenade Anne Akiko Meyers commissioned seven renowned arrangers to create ten works for violin and orchestra from love-inspired music that have been used on stage and film. Crafting the arrangements was a highly collaborative process for Meyers and the composers, and included many Skype rehearsals as the arrangements were finalized. The results are new works Meyers is excited for her listeners to experience.

Trust me, she has succeeded in both exciting and pleasing her listeners, for this album is filled with romance galore and she has created something new and magical out of music we thought we already knew. Applying her lyrical interpretation and flawless technique to the new arrangements being premiered on this recording gives new depth and feeling to the music. Listening to Serenade, I felt the love - and loved the recording, as a whole. I know you will also.