Cellist Tommy Mesa is mildly obsessed when it comes to pickleball.
Heโs a recent convert to the game, which uses a Wiffle ball and wooden paddles nearly double the size of their ping-pong cousins. Thereโs enough similarities in the game to remind Mesa of the tennis he played growing up.
โThe scoring took me a while and after that annoyance, it was much easier and relaxing to play,โ Mesa said during a late September phone interview moments after leaving a New York City pickleball court.
Mesa sees a lot of commonality between bowing his cello and swinging a racquet โ or, in this case, a paddle.
โI think thereโs a lot of relationship between swinging a racquet and being able to bow,โ he explained. โI found that it was very, very similar, and, of course, the mental game of tennis and classical music and the execution in general. Being able to deliver in the moment is all kind of relatable.โ
His mental game of classical music will be on full display when Mesa joins the Tucson Symphony Orchestra this weekend to perform Haydnโs Cello Concerto No. 1.
Cuban-American cellist Tommy Mesa joins the Tucson Symphony Orchestra this weekend to perform Haydnโs Cello Concerto No. 1.
This is Mesaโs second appearance as the orchestraโs artist-in-residence, following up on his November TSO Up Close recital at the Symphony Center. Mesa, joined by a handful of TSO musicians, performed Schubertโs Cello Quintet and two works penned for him in two Up Close concerts.
In addition to soloing on the Haydn on Friday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 15, Mesa will perform Jessie Montgomeryโs โDivided,โ another work composed for him.
โDivided,โ for solo cello and orchestra, is a response to the social and political unrest that has plagued the millennial generation in recent years.
โItโs incredibly powerful. Itโs essentially two entities sort of battling,โ Mesa said.
The Grammy-winning Montgomery, named Musical Americaโs 2023 Composer of the Year, creates a conversation between the cello and orchestra. But that conversation, like many we have in todayโs society, evolves into an argument.
Mesa said the composer was reflecting on the division in our country that has torn apart families and friends.
โWe can never seem to get on the same page whether itโs about religion or politics or social unrest or even social topics in general,โ Mesa said. โIt is nodding towards that inability for any of us to get on the same page.โ
New York-based composer Jessie Montgomery wrote โDividedโ for cellist Tommy Mesa. He will perform it with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra this weekend.
Mesa said the argument unfolds as the cello plays a phrase, and the orchestra responds by playing the phrase slightly out of sync.
โItโs a very intense piece,โ Mesa said. โIt ends in the same way that it sort of progresses during the whole time in that the cello is alone with a single note on its own. That is a reflection that we are still not in agreement.โ
โI think people connect with it in a very visceral way,โ he added.
The orchestra, with guest conductor Francesco Lecce-Chong at the podium, opens this weekendโs โHaydn and Brahmsโ with Mozartโs Overture to โLa Clemenza di Titoโ and closes with Brahmsโ Symphony No. 2.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday at Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $14-$95 through tucsonsymphony.org.
