By LAWRENCE COSENTINO
The upcoming Lansing Symphony Orchestra season, announced this week, runs a breathtaking gamut, from a gala gospel-music extravaganza in December to a much-anticipated visit from British piano star Benjamin Grosvenor next May. Along the way, music director Timothy Muffitt has deftly nestled many brand-new or relatively unfamiliar works he feels will resonate with local audiences alongside familiar classics from Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Gershwin and others.
“LSO at the Robin,” at the Robin Theatre in REO Town, returns with a full schedule of chamber and pops concerts. The adventurous series sold out last year.
The season kicks off Oct. 3 with a concert anchored by Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations” with guest cellist Tommy Mesa.
Mesa, a young and charismatic Cuban-American cellist, tears into each piece of music like there’s no tomorrow and has already performed with top orchestras worldwide. In 2023, the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, dedicated to supporting young Black and LatinX classical artists, awarded Mesa its highest honor, the Medal of Excellence.
“He has a unique voice on the cello, a beautiful sound, great facility, but also that X factor of nuance and expression,” Muffitt said. “There’s something very personal in his playing that I think will really resonate with the audience.” The concert opens with “Bravado,” a celebratory blast from a very much living composer (under 30, in fact), U of M-based Gala Flagello, a finalist last year for the position of LSO composer-in-residence. Music by Elgar, Tchaikovsky and Mozart will round out the evening, all written in a theme and variations style.