Pine Plains, N.Y. — Presented by Clarion Concerts, Cuban American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa and Grammy-nominated composer and bandoneon player JP Jofre will appear together at The Stissing Center for Arts and Culture at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, to perform music for cello and bandoneon.
Cuban-American cellist Dr. Tommy Mesa, recipient of Lincoln Center’s 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Organization’s 2023 Medal of Excellence, has performed as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also appeared four times as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States. Mesa gave the 2022 world premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s cello concerto “Divided” and remains its exclusive soloist, performing the work in major halls such as Carnegie Hall, Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center, and Miami’s New World Center. His recording of “Divided” was released on Deutsche Grammophon in July 2023. During the 2024–25 season, Mesa serves as artist-in-residence with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and appears with the Delaware, Glacier, Rogue Valley, and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, among others, performing a range of contemporary and classical works.
Argentine bandoneon player and composer Juan Pablo Jofre Romarion, known as JP Jofre, is a 2022 Grammy-nominated artist recognized for blending classical, jazz, and tango traditions. Born in San Juan, Argentina, Jofre has written several double concertos and more than 40 chamber works, many performed by major ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and musicians such as Paquito D’Rivera. His compositions and performances have been praised by The New York Times and Great Performers at Lincoln Center, which called him one of today’s leading artists. Jofre has appeared at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Los Angeles Music Center, and theaters in Europe and Asia. A recipient of Argentina’s National Prize of the Arts, he has also performed at the Celebrity Series of Boston, Umbria Jazz Festival, and Lincoln Center. His ensemble, the JP Jofre Quintet, tours internationally, performing works from his album “Manifiesto.” Trained under Julio Pane of the Astor Piazzolla Sextet, Jofre has received numerous commissions from leading orchestras and soloists, earning praise for his expressive compositions and virtuosic playing, described by the Mercury News as “electrifying” and by BBC Magazine as “arresting” and “beguiling.”
When Jofre appeared at Tanglewood’s Linde Center for Music and Learning in the fall of 2019, I wrote this:
Although Mr. Jofre started playing bandoneon only about 20 years ago, the word ‘virtuoso’ seems to follow him around fairly consistently in press notices. This notion is borne out in spades during his concert performances. In fact, if you look at a few YouTube videos of Piazzolla, you may find it difficult to detect anything in the old master’s performances that would likely exceed Jofre’s capabilities.
Hear Tommy Mesa and JP Jofre at 3 p.m. on Sunday, October 19, at The Stissing Center for Arts and Culture. More information and tickets are available at Clarion’s website.
