This concert is presented in memory of Richard Brown "Dick" Walker.
Tommy and Greg met as students at Juilliard and now perform both independently and in this unique instrument pairing together! We're excited to show off Christ Church's new organ antiphonal pipe expansion with this concert in memory of Dick Walker.
Biography
Tommy Mesa, cello
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 Lincoln Center’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 four 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 Indianapolis, Madison, New Jersey, San Antonio, and Santa Barbara, among others. Mesa gave the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto Divided in 2022 and has been the exclusive soloist since, performing 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 July 2023 on Deutsche Grammophon.
In addition to serving as Artist in Residence with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in the 2024-25 season, orchestral highlights this season include debuts with the Delaware, Glacier, and Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestras as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, a return to the Madison Symphony, and a performance of the rarely heard Lucid Dreams by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock with the Windsor Symphony. Last season Mesa celebrated enthusiastic performances with the Calgary and Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestras and the Ann Arbor, Columbus, Greenwich, Knoxville, Quad City, and Reading Symphony Orchestras, among others.
Greg Zelek, organ
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 and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ. In this role, Greg performs and oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. The MSO Organ Series regularly attracts over one thousand ticketed audience members for each of Zelek’s creatively curated and performed concerts. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship.
In addition to his unique position in Madison, Zelek is the Curator of the Organ Series for the Jacksonville Symphony. Beginning in August 2024, Zelek will also serve as the Northrop Organist at the University of Minnesota.
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. Select performances for the 2024-25 season include concerts at Spreckels Organ Pavilion in San Diego, CA and Jacoby Symphony Hall in Jacksonville, FL, and performances and masterclasses at the Oregon Bach Festival.
Alongside various orchestras, Greg has performed the organ concertos of Barber, Poulenc, and Rheinberger. In September 2024, he will perform Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Greg 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 role as Visiting Guest Artist at St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. Upcoming MSO Organ programming includes a concert of arias and gospel songs with tenor Limmie Pulliam, and an Empire Brass Celebration concert featuring former Empire Brass players that will include a newly commissioned work for the Overture Concert Organ and the ensemble.
In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists and has won prizes in numerous organ competitions. Zelek released a 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. Greg, who is Cuban-American and a native Spanish speaker, grew up in Miami, FL.