Thomas Mesa, Cellist

Absolutely epic opening for the last movement of Mirage by Andrea Casarrubios and she sent me a midi file to play along with which is why I’m racing to my cello after pressing play! This movement arrives at the perfect moment when there’s so much unresolved tension and meditation...it starts with something that sounds like chant and then evolves into this lush expanse getting more intense as things march along but always marching towards our destination...THE HIGH TRUMPHANT E TO END THE PIECE! AHHH CAN’T WAIT! GOD I LOVE MY JOB. @indy_symphony @andrea_casarrubios #cello #cellolove #cellopremiere #newmusic #mirage #indianapolis #indiana #celloplayer #classicalmusic

Getting back into the swing of things for next season means lots and lots of repetition and it never comes easy. My brain gets tied into knots and I have to write things down that I’ve learned over the years to deal with performance stress and what it really means to build confidence and only focus on the music. I’m at my best when I can stare down my weaknesses every day and say NO, I will not accept you. This also means coming up short happens all the time but building on this progress with as much objectivity as possible is key. This particular permanent marker graffiti reminds me of the stuff I learned with the one and only Hans Jensen. @northwesternu @bienenschoolnu #cello #cellolove #celloplayer #celloplayer #cellomusic #cellopracticetime

On of my favorite shifts from this concerto in the movement titled Mensajes del agua. Prepping for next week with Indianapolis Symphony. Can’t wait for another premiere of this gorgeous music by Andrea Casarrubios. #concerto #cello #premiere #celloplayer #celloplayer #cellomusic #cellopracticetime

A friendly reminder to myself. Might be nice to post these up in my studio at Purchase. #cello #cellolove #celloplayer #cellomusic #cellopracticetime #cellodaily

After 5 days of 5-hour recording sessions in Kansas City, not shaving, eating @chipotle too many times, and realizing this town is pretty awesome, I’m headed back to NYC. #kansas #missouri #recording #session #piano #violin #cello #quartets

A few tips on false harmonics, one of the most difficult passages that lives in the nightmares of all cellists: the opening solo of Shostakovich’s trio No. 2. This music is haunting and filled to the brim with pathos. Just think of false harmonics as being divided into two kinds of finger contact: STRONG thumb and LIGHT 3rd finger. There’s just have a few tricks that you can work on right away to make it sound better and better. The first being strong thumb contact but n...ot too strong that the thumb can’t shift freely, VERY light 3rd finger contact as it just sits between the strings only touching the string you’re playing a tiny bit, and last is your bow being close to the fingerboard. It’s not too difficult with some practice. Any questions?? PS this new version of iMovie absolutely sucks, sorry the titles are zooming by so quickly. I can’t figure out why they would take away timing on titles on the update!! #tutorial #cello #cellolove #cellomusic #celloplayer #cellopractice #cellogram #cellolessons #classicalmusic #trio #shostakovich

Practicing slowly is something every single teacher tells their students from day one! Here are a few basic concepts that have always helped me and students I’ve taught when having to learn things quickly and efficiently. Once again, much more to say than what’s in this video but I’m going for what’s concise and what’s most important. Perhaps what’s even MORE important than what’s in this video is your capacity for patience and objectivity. Get into a mindset of fixing problems objectively and not letting negative thoughts run around in your mind. FORGIVE, FIX, AND REPEAT. #cello #cellomusic #celloplayer #cellopractice #cellolove #cellogram #tutorials #tips #classicalmusic

The ability to make a sound that reaches the back of a hall is important for any kind of musician, so how do string players do it? In 2015, I methodically converted my sound to one that was bigger, warmer, more inviting to an audience through many steps of correcting and over correcting but here are a few basics. I hope they help you, let me know. #cello #cellomusic #celloplayer #cellopractice #cellolove #cellolife #classicalmusic #tips #tutorials

It’s December and this is Debussy’s Beau Soir with Yoon Lee and Four/Ten Media. This commemorates today’s high noon release (in 5 minutes in all time zones) of Debussy’s Sonata on all streaming platforms. I love this scene that @fourtenmedia set, it makes me want to drink absinthe in a smoky French bar in the early 20th century. Full video is on YouTube, link is in my bio. APPLE MUSIC - Debussy: Cello Sonata in D minor, L. 135: https://music.apple.com//claude-debussy-cello-/1542344096 #debussy #debussypiano #cello #duo #classicalmusic #cellomusic #cellolove

A few thoughts on making those dreadful double stops an absolute joy (TOO FAR!) maybe just enjoyableish. I feel like I need to keep saying this but obviously this isn’t exhaustive, it’s just 38 seconds of random thoughts mashed together with kittens and La Croix. @lacroixwater #sponsor? #cellomusic #cello #celloplayer #cellopractice #cellolove #cellogram #tutorial #tips #classicalmusic #bach

A few days ago, it was an honor to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Violoncello Society of New York! Helping to grow this organization and connecting cellists across the city, specifically in my generation, will be one of my objectives here. I’m really looking forward to working with these awesome cellists on that while preserving and promoting the rich legacy of this organization. I feel like I just joined another music family! @violoncellosocietynyc @mycellotakesmeplaces @inbalsegevcello @saraesantambrogio @jzcello @holman.hannah @cellopatramusic

Here’s a few tips on how to practice the opening of The Swan...or any part of that work, or any part of any legato section of any piece. There are many more things to talk about but I chose to focus on contact point! I hope it’s helpful. #cellopractice #cello

As everything is colliding at once the next few days, take a moment for this music. I’m incredibly proud of every aspect of this production and I hope it gives you peace. Thank you Andrea Casarrubios for bringing us this world of sound, Four/Ten Media and Oktaven Audio for their vision, and Astral Artists and Sphinx Organization for their support of this commission and production.

@jackblack is right, it’s a bass guitar. : @as.burg #schoolofrock #celloooooo

Stephanie Ann Boyd and I worked on her Song of Isolation recently and it definitely made me more antsy for this piece come to life. I’m going to put in the work the next few months and I’m so excited to share this with all of you. #composer #newmusic #solocello @stephanieannboyd :@as.burg

Beautiful production of this piece! Nice job, everyone

I’m so excited that Andrea Casarrubios’s solo work for cello is being streamed this Saturday, Oct 24th @ 7:30 PM by New World Symphony! The link is below if you’re interested in hearing this program by Sphinx Virtuosi called This is America. Special thanks to these organizations that quite literally made this work come to life and helped fund this gorgeous video: Sphinx Organization... Astral Artists Four/Ten Media Oktaven Audio Ticket info: https://www.nws.edu//conc/sphinx-virtuosi-this-is-america/

Tonight is the Sphinx Organization’s Virtual Gala at 7 PM! This phenomenal organization has turned a strange season into something positive and beautiful with this program called Life Ev’ry Voice. There will be a world premiere by Xavier Foley, performance by Anthony McGill, some Leonard Bernstein arranged by Jannina Norpoth, a solo violin work by Carlos Simon (a composer I recently commissioned) played by Hannah White, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 featuring Racquel Gonzalez... and Christine Lamprea, and an insanely gifted choir, EXIGENCE, singing Glory! Congratulations to all those involved in this collaboration, and congrats to Sphinx for making this happen. RSVP on their website to watch tonight! @sphinxorg @xavierfoleybass @mcgillclarinet @janninan @simoncomposer @hannahwhiteviolinist @raquel_a_gonzalez @lampreacello #sphinxvirtuosi #cello #choir #clarinet #soprano #collaboration #gala #vocal See more

Delights and Dances by Michael Abels, a super jazzy, high energy, quartet concerto experience. He also wrote the music to two movies, Get Out and Us. Preparing this to play with New Jersey Symphony in a couple weeks aka virtual recording and livestream. Can’t wait, ya’ll!...@njsymphony @rubenrengelviolin @janninan @thatsdanarrific @getoutmovie @usmovie @_michaelabels

Hump day, here a funny dude named Debussy under a parasol and here’s our recording of his sonata with Yoon Lee years ago! @yoon_the_pianowiz #debussy #recording #piano #cello #sonata

It’s nice to develop a relationship with a space and feel comfortable in it. Oktaven in Mt. Vernon really does feel like a free and creative space, Ryan is incredible. Spending a lot of time here in the next few months! @oktavenaudio #recordingstudio #cello #cellomusic #audio

Today’s the eve of heading into a few months of very focused work on recordings and projects that are making me BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS OF MY APARTMENT. Below is the full article link you can read now from Strings Magazine, I’m really appreciative that they gave me a chance to share these projects with you and David Templeton conveyed our conversation very eloquently. It was only a couple years ago that my menu of music was very traditional but a few ideas and conversations la...ter, this changed. Almost completely. There’s a lot of organizations and composers involved in these projects, so check them out. PS not being able to tag some of these people through a FB Artist page should be a crime! Not sure why. Astral Artists - Carnegie Hall - Sphinx Organization - PARMA Recordings - Andrea Casarrubios - Stephanie Anne Boyd - Carlos Simon - Daniel Ficarri - Jessie Montgomery - Lydia Pugh - Betsy Start - George Holloway - Ben Yee-Paulson - Jonathan Chenette - Yoon Lee - Greg Zelek - Brad Michel - Levi Brown - Ty Ueda - Oktaven Audio - Four/Ten Media

Experimenting with vibrato again. I tend to hyper focus on it because my only real goal in life is to sound like Anne-Sophie Mutter...no joke, it sounds dumb. I literally go to her videos and slow them down to .5 speed and try to figure out how in God’s name she gets the kind of sound/vibrato that’s her signature...she’s on another planet. It’s funny because on the surface that might sound bad but what it actually does is allow me to find a sound that REALLY speaks to me......like all the way deep down to my core. That search doesn’t allow me to get to HER sound, it inadvertently allows me to arrive at MY sound. This is actually how I learned the cello when I started 18 years ago, I would try and copy all the great cellists I heard on a CD - Yo-Yo, DuPre, Rostropovich. I just literally sat with the instrument and played a snippet of my favorite concerto recording from them, stopped the track, played a few notes trying to copy them, tried again and again and again until something, maybe just one note, sounded CLOSE to what I heard. I’m asked all the time how I learned the cello late, we’ll that’s part of it. I developed pretty strange technique at first but had some good teachers unravel those bad boys, imitation has its pros and cons. Did anyone else do this?! #cello #sound #cellomusic #cellolove #brahms #sing #classic #imitation