Enjoy the extraordinary pairing of cello and organ as acclaimed cellist Tommy Mesa joins Madison Symphony Orchestra Principal Organist Greg Zelek for an evening of beloved classics and contemporary works. Featuring music by Bach, Piazzolla, Carlos Simon, and more, this captivating program showcases the rich textures, dynamic contrasts, and expressive beauty that make the cello and organ such a remarkable duo.
Tommy Mesa
Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. The recipient of Avery Fisher Artist Program’s 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, its highest honor, Mesa has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on multiple occasions and with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, The Cleveland Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the symphony orchestras of Ann Arbor, Elgin, Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, and Santa Barbara, among others.
Mesa gave the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto Divided in 2022 and exclusively performed the work for three seasons at major halls across the United States and Brazil, including Miami’s New World Center, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center, and Carnegie Hall. His orchestral recording debut of the work was released in 2023 on Deutsche Grammophon. Mesa is also a new member of the cello faculty at the Manhattan School of Music.
Orchestral highlights of the 2025-26 season included performances with the Greenville Symphony, Hartford Symphony, and San Antonio Philharmonic, and the Interlochen Orchestra with members of the Detroit Symphony at Orchestra Hall in Detroit, where he gave one of the premiere performances of Wynton Marsalis’ new cello concerto in collaboration with conductor Cristian Mӑcelaru, Yo-Yo Ma, and the composer himself. Mesa also gave the New York premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s Canticle of the Sun with Voices of Ascension, and renewed collaborations with Grammy-winning The Crossing Choir. In the recital sphere, Mesa performs with pianists Olga Kern, Michelle Cann, Albert Cano Smit, and Ilya Yakushev, including performance debuts at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Bender JCC of Greater Washington, Cleveland Institute of Music, New Orleans Friends of Music, and Virginia Arts Festival, among others.
In recent seasons, Mesa served as Artist-in-Residence with the Tucson Symphony and debuted with orchestras including the Calgary Philharmonic, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and the Ann Arbor, Columbus, Delaware, Greenwich, Quad City, and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestras.
Mesa recently celebrated several releases, including a recording of tango works for cello and bandoneon with performer-composer JP Jofre, and an album of world-premiere recordings by Black and Latinx composers with pianist Michelle Cann, which was featured in an exclusive showcase on New York City’s classical station WQXR. Upcoming albums include collaborations with the iconic pianist Olga Kern and The Crossing Choir.
Mesa’s first solo album, Division of Memory on the PARMA Recordings label, received rave reviews. He was featured on the Grammy-nominated album Bonhoeffer with The Crossing Choir. As an ensemble musician, Mesa has been on tours with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and is the principal cellist of Sphinx Virtuosi. He also collaborates with Jupiter Chamber Players and has toured with Itzhak Perlman both nationally and internationally.
Mesa’s career launched after becoming the First Prize winner in the 2016 Sphinx Competition and a winner of the 2017 Astral Artists National Auditions. He received his Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, Master of Music from Northwestern University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music. His principal teachers were Timothy Eddy, Julia Lichten, Hans Jorgen Jensen, Mark Churchill, Ross Harbaugh, and Wells Cunningham. Mesa performs with a Nicolò Gagliano cello made in 1767 and a bow by Andre Richaume, both generously loaned to him by CANIMEX INC in Drummondville, Canada.
Greg Zelek
Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life) and a “musical star” (Bill Wineke, Channel 3000), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ. In this role, Zelek performs and oversees all the MSO’s organ programming. The MSO Organ Series regularly attracts more than 1,000 ticketed audience members for each of Zelek’s creatively curated and performed concerts. Since September 2017, Zelek has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship.
In addition to his unique position in Madison, Zelek is the Northrop Organist at the University of Minnesota and the Curator of the J.F. Bryan Concert Organ Series for the Jacksonville Symphony. Zelek also performs frequently as a soloist throughout the United States. Always playing his solo programs from memory, Zelek has played and premiered many of the large works of the organ canon, as well as new works that showcase the versatility of the instrument. Alongside various orchestras, Zelek has performed the organ concertos of Barber, Poulenc, Rheinberger, and Jongen. He has also been the organist for works such as Mahler’s 8th Symphony, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Saint-Saëns’s Organ Symphony, Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, Respighi’s Pines of Rome, Foss’s Phorion, and Gounod’s Faust.
Zelek is known for his inventive programming and collaborations. He has performed a classical and gospel concert with counter-tenor Reginald Mobley, arranged and commissioned works for cello and organ with cellist Thomas Mesa, performed in a Latin-American concert with a Cuban band from Miami, FL, and collaborated with electronic trombonist Mark Hetzler in a concert featuring new music for organ, trombone, and percussion. He has also performed with the Canadian Brass in his continued role as Visiting Guest Artist at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN.
Zelek was selected as an InBusiness Madison 2026 40 Under 40 honoree, a distinction celebrating the region's most impactful young leaders and creative forces. Zelek has won prizes in numerous organ competitions and released his debut recording on the Overture Concert Organ in the fall of 2022. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs. Zelek, who is Cuban-American and a native Spanish speaker, grew up in Miami, FL and resides in Madison, WI with his wife and two children.
Program
- Astor Piazzolla (arr. Zelek/Mesa)
Invierno Porteño - J.S. Bach
Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
Organ Fugue in D Major, BWV 532 - Remo Giazotto (attr. Albononi) (arr. Zelek/Mesa)
Adagio in G minor Nadia Boulanger
Trois Pièces
III. Vite et nerveusement rythméIntermission
- Dudley Buck
Concert Variations on “The Star-Spangled Banner” - Carlos Simon
Silence - Daniel Ficari
Sonata in C minor for Cello and Organ (commissioned by the Madison Symphony
Orchestra)
