Sphinx honorees, from left, Joel Thompson, Aundi Marie Moore, and Tommy Mesa.
”On March 1, the Sphinx Organization awarded its highest honor—the Medal of Excellence, recognizing extraordinary Black and Latinx classical musicians —to three artists, each of whom receives $50,000,” writes Sarah Shay in Friday’s (3/10) Musical America (subscription required). “Cuban-American cellist Tommy Mesa has established himself as an in-demand soloist with major American orchestras … He is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician and this year is in residence at Colburn Conservatory. A recipient of the First Prize in the Sphinx Competition in 2016, Mesa … is currently cello professor at … SUNY Purchase College. Soprano Aundi Marie Moore made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Strawberry Woman in … Porgy and Bess and is at present a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera. She … has also performed with the Sarasota Opera, the Amalfi Coast Festival, and at Washington National Opera…. Joel Thompson, an Atlanta-based composer, conductor, pianist, and educator, is currently composer-in-residence at the Houston Grand Opera and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. With performances of his music by the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra, he is best known for his choral works, including Seven Last Words of the Unarmed (2015).”
