Guest Cellist Mesa, Guest Conductor Smith Available to Media Thursday, 11 a.m., Prior to SSO’s First Spring Concert

Springfield—Guest Conductor Mark Russell Smith and Thomas Mesa, the Cuban-American Cellist that will be featured for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s first spring concert on Friday, will be available to media for pre-concert interviews on Thursday, April 21 at 11 a.m. at Springfield Symphony Hall. 

The media interviews will take place just prior to a rehearsal of the full orchestra under the direction of Guest Conductor Mark Russell Smith. 

Mesa is a musician affiliated with the Detroit-based Sphinx organization, focused on increasing representation of Black and Latinx artists in classical music. He has received numerous awards and recognitions, and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in the United States and Mexico, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Santa Barbara Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra. 

For Friday’s concert, Mesa will perform Antonin Dvorak’s Cello Concerto. The Symphony will also present William Grant Still’s Danzas de Panama and Robert Schumann’s Symphony #2.

Mark Russell Smith, who previously served as Music Director and Conductor of the SSO from 1995-2000, will serve as guest conductor for both the SSO’s April 22 and May 13 concerts.

Tickets for the April 22 concert can be purchased on the Springfield Symphony Orchestra website, www.springfieldsymphony.org/event/of-heroes-and-poets/, or by calling the SSO box office at (413) 733-2291. The box office is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is the largest Massachusetts symphony outside of Boston. It consists of over 70 musicians from the NE region of the United States and Canada, and holds many performances in a given season – as either the full orchestra or in ensemble formats.