Thomas Mesa, a Cuban American cellist, has established himself as one of the most charismatic, innovative, and engaging performers of his generation. He was the Robert Frederick Smith Prize winner of the 2016 Sphinx Competition and winner of the Astral Artists 2017 National Auditions. He has appeared as soloist at the Supreme Court of the United States on three occasions and with major orchestras, including The Cleveland Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and Santa Barbara Symphony.

Highlights from his upcoming seasons include curating and performing chamber music programs with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as soloist with the Sphinx Virtuosi touring to major venues across the US, and a 30-venue recital tour with duo partner and pianist Ilya Yakushev. These tours include appearances at such venues as The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Colburn School, and Kohler Foundation.

American bass-baritone Davóne Tines has won acclaim from The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times as a path-breaking artist whose work not only encompasses a diverse repertoire, but also explores the social issues of today. As a Black, gay, and classically trained performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, his work blends opera, art song, contemporary classical, spirituals, gospel, and songs of protest as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance that connects to all of humanity.

Mr. Tines is artist-in-residence at Michigan Opera Theatre—an appointment that culminates in his performance in the title role of Anthony Davis’s X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X in the spring of 2022—and also Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale’s first-ever creative partner. His ongoing projects include Recital No. 1: MASS, a program that explores the mass woven through Western European, Black American, and 21st-century traditions, with performances this season at the Ravinia Festival, as well as in Washington, DC, presented by the Works Progress Administration, and at the Barbican Centre in London. He also performs Concerto No. 1: SERMON—a program he conceived for voice and orchestra that weaves arias by John Adams, Anthony Davis, Igee Dieudonné, and Mr. Tines himself, with texts by James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou—with The Philadelphia Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Tines is a member of American Modern Opera Company and co-creator of The Black Clown, a musical theater experience commissioned and premiered by the American Repertory Theater and presented at Lincoln Center. He has premiered works by today’s leading composers, including John Adams, Terence Blanchard, and Matthew Aucoin, and his concert appearances include performances of works ranging from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony to Kaija Saariaho’s True Fire with the Orchestre National de France.

Mr. Tines is a winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, recognizing extraordinary classical musicians of color, and the recipient of the 2018 Emerging Artists Award from Lincoln Center. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Harvard University, where he also serves as a guest lecturer.

The Sphinx Virtuosi is a dynamic professional chamber orchestra, dedicated to increasing racial and ethnic diversity in classical music. Comprising 18 of the nation’s top Black and Latinx classical soloists, the Sphinx Virtuosi is primarily drawn from alums of the internationally renowned Sphinx Competition, and its members work together as cultural ambassadors to reach new audiences.

The Sphinx Virtuosi has returned to Carnegie Hall annually since 2006. Forming a bridge between minority communities and the classical music establishment, the Sphinx Virtuosi tours annually to many of the leading venues across the country. Inspired by the Sphinx Organization’s overarching mission to advance diversity in classical music, the group’s musicians work to engage young and new audiences through performances of kaleidoscopically varied repertoire. Masterpieces by J. S. Bach, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, and Mozart are performed alongside seldom-performed works by composers of color, including Michael Abels, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Astor Piazzolla, and George Walker.

Members of the Sphinx Virtuosi have performed as soloists with major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Members also hold professional orchestral positions, and several have been named laureates of other prestigious international competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition and Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. Roster members are alums and current students at the nation’s top music schools, including The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Peabody Institute, Harvard University, and University of Michigan. The Sphinx Virtuosi’s first recording was released in 2011 and features music of Felix Mendelssohn, Jean Sibelius, Gabriela Lena Frank, and George Walker.