Quad City Symphony Orchestra Masterworks I: “From Conflict to Courage" -- October 7 and 8.
Saturday, October 7, 7:30 p.m.
Adler Theatre, 136 East Third Street, Davenport IA
Sunday, October 8, 2 p.m.
Augustana College's Centennial Hall, 3703 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL
Opening their eagerly anticipated 2023-24 Masterworks season with performances at Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 7 and Augustana College's Centennial Hall on October 8, the sublime musicians of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra welcome, for their concert event Masterworks I: From Conflict to Courage, Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa, the artist having inspired New York Concert Review to rave, "Mr. Mesa’s playing had a musical intensity that was commanding in every detail.”
The winner of the $50,000 First Prize in the 2016 Sphinx Competition and the Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions, Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. He has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on three occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Symphony, and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Highlights in Mesa's 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons include curating and performing chamber music programs with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; performing as soloist with Sphinx Virtuosi; touring at major venues across the U.S. with Jessie Montgomery’s Divided for solo cello and orchestra; almost 100 recitals; a residency at Colburn Conservatory; and many new commissions, premieres, and recording projects. Venues Mesa has or will perform at include Carnegie Hall, the MET Museum, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Colburn School of Music.
As an ensemble musician, Mesa has been on tours with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, is a frequent collaborator at Jupiter Chamber Players, and is the principal cellist of Sphinx Virtuosi who play every year on tour at almost every major venue across the United States. He has also toured with the legendary Itzhak Perlman both nationally and internationally, and has given masterclasses at institutions such as U.C. Berkeley, Boston Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern University, and DePaul University. Mesa received his BMus from the Juilliard School, MMus from Northwestern University, and DMA from Manhattan School of Music.
During the musicians' October 7 and 8 performances, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra will open their 109th season with Samuel Barber’s vivid and witty The School for Scandal Overture, capturing the madcap spirit of Richard Sheridan’s comedic play. Showcased cellist Tommy Mesa returns to the Quad Cities to perform Andrea Casarrubios’s Seven, a hauntingly beautiful tribute to the pandemic’s essential workers and those who lost their lives, followed by Jessie Montgomery’s Divided, which finds beauty amid conflict and chaos. Finally, the concert comes to a triumphant close with Dmitri Shostakovich’s artistic statement emerging from a period of Soviet artist suppression: his breathtaking Fifth Symphony.
Masterworks I: From Conflict to Courage performances will be held at Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 7 at 7:30 p.m., and, in Rock Island, at Augustana College's Centennial Hall on October 8 at 2 p.m. One hour prior to each performance, concert-goers are invited to attend informational "Concert Conversations" to learn about the works on the program, and admission to the concert events starts at $12 for adults and $7 for students and children. For more information and tickets, call (563)322-0931 and visit QCSO.org.
