Tommy Mesa & Olga Kern

Tommy Mesa and Olga Kern open Dumbarton Concerts’ 49th season with an evening of American and European music for cello and piano. The program centers on major sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy, and Barber, alongside shorter works by composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. The concert highlights the cello-and-piano partnership and the performers’ shared commitment to both established repertoire and new music.

Cellist Tommy Mesa, a 2025 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and frequent orchestral soloist, performs with pianist Olga Kern, an internationally acclaimed artist and former winner of the Van Cliburn Competition. Together, they present a varied program designed to launch the venue’s “season of the cello.”

When: Saturday, October 17, 2026

Showtime: 7:30 p.m.

Run time: Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including intermission

Program: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5, No. 2; Claude Debussy’s Sonata in D Minor, L. 135; Andrea Casarrubios’s *24 Mozas*; Adolphus Hailstork’s *Elegy*; Samuel Barber’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 6; Nadia Boulanger’s *Trois Pièces*; and Aaron Copland’s *Waltz & Celebration* from *Billy the Kid*

Performers: Tommy Mesa, cello, and Olga Kern, piano

Tickets: $60

Venue: Historic Dumbarton Church, 3133 Dumbarton St NW, Georgetown

Format: Live, in-person concert