ALLELUIA OLORA.
Opus. 77
Instrumentation: Solo Cello
Duration: 7 Minutes, One Movement
Commissioned by: Astral Artists for Tommy Mesa
Scroll down for program note and commissioner biography
PROGRAM NOTE.
Alleluia Olora is a one movement, ~8 minute work for solo cello capturing the space of emotions when a distant tragedy suddenly becomes personal: a catastrophe involving one’s own friends, family, neighborhood, and the current and future livelihoods of millions. Those moments when empathy for others is replaced by one’s own strong and innate feelings that arrive with fire and immediacy: fight for survival, fight for normalcy, fear of ends of lives and all that is unknown, and ultimately, an appeal towards faith in the better good of humanity.
The work follows the sudden shifts in mood and understanding experienced by many in the United States in April of 2020, when a plague and its vast consequences were laid at our feet seemingly overnight. Many melodic motifs used in the work come from sounds I experienced while in quarantine in Manhattan: from the haunting, pitch-bend drones of ambulance sirens echoing off the canyon walls of block after block of apartment buildings under quarantine to the redeeming sounds of nature as songbirds crept out of the parks and onto rooftops and windowsills.
A note on the title: Alleluia Olora is my second small work specifically for cello, the other being my first chamber work, Fantasia Olora for cello + piano, written in 2008.
Thank you to Tommy Mesa for being an incredible collaborator, and thank you to Tommy and Vera Wilson and Astral Artists for giving me this outlet to tell my perspective and experience of this difficult time. I hope that it gives its listeners even the smallest experience of catharsis and healing and hope.
Details // Concert Prep
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PDF Score + Part(s) sent via email within 2-3 business days. I’m excited to connect with you!
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recording.
commissioner biography.
The Cuban-American cellist Thomas Mesa has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. Mr. Mesa was the winner of the $50,000 First Prize in the 2016 Sphinx Competition; the Thaviu Competition for String Performance (Chicago, 2013); The Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions; and the Alhambra Orchestra Concerto Competition. He has appeared as 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 which received this rave review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “A listener with closed eyes would have been hard pressed to distinguish [Mesa’s] shapely, expressive performance from that of another gifted artist two or three times his age.”
As a recitalist, appearances include the Mainly Mozart Festival, The Academy of Arts and Letters in NYC, Bargemusic, University of Miami’s Signature Series, Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Columbia University, Flagler Museum, Carnegie Hall, The U.S. Supreme Court, The Heifetz Institute, California Center for the Arts, Meadowmount School of Music, Strad for Lunch Series, International Beethoven Project, Perlman Music Program Alumni Recital, and universities nationwide.
As a recording artist, Thomas was featured on the GRAMMY-nominated album, “Bonhoeffer,” with the multiple GRAMMY winning group called The Crossing Choir. He has appeared with them as soloist at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Longwood Gardens, The Winter Garden (broadcast on WNYC) and the Theological Seminary in New York City. Mr. Mesa and The Crossing also collaborated on the American premiere of “Astralis” for choir and solo cello by renowned composer Wolfgang Rihm and have more collaborations/premieres scheduled for future seasons. Other recording projects include the piano and cello works of Brahms, Beethoven, a whole album dedicated to the music of Debussy, and a special project in collaboration with PARMA Recordings in a “Call for Scores” that will bring together and record new works for solo cello and cello/piano. This project will include an album release concert at The DiMenna Center in New York City and the CD will be available on all commercial streaming platforms.