Press
“A listener with closed eyes would have been hard pressed to distinguish his shapely, expressive performance from that of an artist two or three times his age.”
“The concert’s most striking moment came in this piece’s second movement, when Mesa accompanied his own voice for a haunting, wordless melody.”
“Mr. Mesa’s playing had a musical intensity that was commanding in every detail...”
““The pair’s playing [Mesa + pianist Ilya Yakushev] was grounded in storytelling, as great musical performances often are...a musical performance that encapsulates the best that good drama has to offer.”
“Thomas Mesa brought out [the Debussy Sonata’s] edge and contrasting timbres.”
“He gave a splendid account of the piece [Dvorak Cello Concerto], shaping its tender, simple tunes with winning sincerity and delivering its challenging passages with effortless panache.”
“Greg Zelek and Thomas Mesa, two Juilliard buddies, put on the most enjoyable concert I have ever encountered.”
Tommy Mesa, cellist
2023-24 & 2024-25 Programs
with Piano and Bandoneon
Program with Piano 1: The Cello and Piano Masterpieces
Pianists: Michelle Cann, Olga Kern, or Ilya Yakushev
Claude Debussy: Sonata in D minor (11’)
Robert Schumann: Fantasy Pieces (11’)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 3 in A major
**Intermission**
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Sonata in G minor (30’)
Program with Piano 2:
Pianists: Michelle Cann, Olga Kern, or Ilya Yakshev
Nadia Boulanger: 3 Pieces for cello and piano (8’)
Andrea Casarrubios: Mensajes del agua (4’)
Claude Debussy: Sonata in D minor (11’)
Kevin Day: Sonata for cello and piano (18’)
**Intermission**
Nikolai Kapustin: Elegy (4’)
Dmitri Shostakovich: Cello Sonata in D minor, Op. 40
Program with Piano 3: German and French Greats
Pianists: Michelle Cann, Olga Kern, or Ilya Yakushev
Andrea Casarrubios: Silbo (6’)
Claude Debussy: Sonata in D minor (11’)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 (25’)
**Intermission**
Carlos Simon: Lickity Split
Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 1 or No. 2
Program with bandoneon: Nightclub 1960
Bandoneonist and composer JP Jofre
Astor Piazzolla: Nightclub 1960 (6’)
Astor Piazzolla: Libertango (3’)
JP Jofre: Sweet Dreams (4’)
JP Jofre: Tangodromo (4’)
JP Jofre: Bailongo (5’)
JP Jofre: Contrabando
JP Jofre: Before the Curtains (4’)
JP Jofre: Como El Aqua (4’)
Astor Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango (11’)
+ 2 solo works each
(total 70 minutes with speaking)
Schedule
Upcoming Concerts:
Past Concerts: