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“Don’t play the notes. Play the meaning of the notes.” – Pablo Casals
For Immediate Release – New York, NY – On Saturday, November 15th at 2pm at St. John’s in the Village, Composers Concordance presents the Lesi Mei – Chris Cortez Duo in a concert of spirited music written for cello and piano. Featured on the program are Gene Pritsker’s ‘We Must Be Still And Still Moving Into Another Intensity’ Audrey Morse’s ‘Animal Suite,’ and Lynn Bechtold’s ‘Don’t Look at the Sky,’ plus music by Nadia Boulanger, Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré, and César Franck. The concert will also be live-streamed on Composers Concordance’s Facebook Page.
LESI MEI has been involved in many fields – such as bioengineering and kinesiology – but piano and classical music have molded her into the person she is. In front of the keys, her background and personality manifest in dazzling virtuosity and stunning musicality. She was the first call pianist for Beijing International Orchestra before traveling the U.S. coast to coast performing in festivals as the Mostly Modern Festival in Saratoga Springs, International Keyboard Institute and Festival in New York City, and Olympiad Piano Festival in Colorado Springs, where she was a semifinalist in the concerto competition. Venues she performed. Other places she has performed at include: Steinway Home Beijing, La Plantation Beijing, Beijing Central Conservatory, Birdland Jazz Club NYC, Montclair State University, University of Idaho, Sonoma State University, and various libraries and colleges in San Diego. Lesi has been invited by the Composers Concordance in NYC numerous times to premiere works by Gene Pritsker, Seth Boustead, Dan Cooper, etc. She has also been invited to perform with ensembles such as American Modern Orchestra, La Jolla Symphony, San Diego Winds, the Hausmann Quartet, to name a few. Her performance diploma hails from the European Music Institute in Vienna, under the tutelage of the esteemed Professor Martin Hughes. Lesi is also known for her impeccable timing, sensible touch and the ability to bring out the best of the group whenever she collaborates with other musicians, which makes her in high demand as a collaborative pianist. Lesi runs her private teaching studio at two locations in San Diego: Lemon Grove and Torrey Highlands, where she teaches hard working students aged from 6 to 42. Also, Lesi served on the panel for the inaugural San Diego International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in Summer 2016. Lesi holds Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from San Diego State University, CA, Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology from Florida State University, FL, and Bachelor of Engineering in Biological Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, CHINA.
CHRISTOPHER CORTEZ, a Mexican-American cellist based in New York City, is a highly sought-after freelance artist in the New York metropolitan area, performing across all five boroughs and the tri-state region. Cortez has performed under the direction of renowned conductors including Peter Oundjian, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Alondra de la Parra, Markand Thakar, Robert Moody, Cliff Colnot, Michael Morgan, Steve Hackman, Sarah Ionnides, and Alessandro Tirotta. His performances have taken him to eminent venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, Merkin Concert Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Chicago’s Symphony Center, Auditorium Theater, Harris Theater for Music and Dance, and Costa Rica’s Teatro Nacional. Cortez has held prominent positions as principal cellist with the International Pride Orchestra, New England Symphonic Ensemble, Ensemble 212, New Camerata Opera, and the Chicago College of Performing Arts Chamber & Opera orchestras. He has also performed as a substitute cellist with the Colorado Music Festival and served as section cellist with the Chicago Composers Orchestra, Nickel City Opera, Teatro Lirico D’Europa, Mid-Atlantic Philharmonic Orchestra, The Chelsea Symphony, and alongside the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is a frequent guest performer at the Mannes School of Music and New York University. Recently, Mr. Cortez was a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium performing Eric Whitacre’s The Sacred Veil. As a chamber musician, he has been featured on Chicago’s WFMT radio. A graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Cortez studied under the guidance of John Sharp and Karen Basrak of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His musical education includes masterclasses with Daniel Müller-Schott, Alban Gerhardt, the American String Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, and the Ying String Quartet. His mentors also include Jurgen de Lemos, Fred Hoeppner, Matthew Switzer, and additional coachings with Alban Gerhardt.
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Listing Information
Composers Concordance
Lesi Mei – Chris Cortez Duo
Saturday, Nov. 15th, 2025 at 2pm
St. John’s in the Village
218 W. 11th St., NYC
TICKETS
$30 at the door, $20 in advance
Facebook
Live Stream
Composers
Lynn Bechtold, Nadia Boulanger,
Johannes Brahms, Gabriel Fauré,
César Franck, Audrey Morse, Gene Pritsker
Performers
Lesi Mei – piano
Chris Cortez – cello
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Staying in rotation for 42 years in NYC is a rare feat. In the case of a new music presenting organization, it requires not only diligence and cognizance of achievements of the past but also an ethic of keeping one’s ear to the ground for emerging stylistic and technological developments, as well as talented new composers on the scene. Composers Concordance, founded in 1984 by Joseph Pehrson and Patrick Hardish, advised by Otto Luening, strives to present contemporary music in innovative ways, with an emphasis on thematic programming. Directors Gene Pritsker and Dan Cooper co-curate the programs and lead the CompCord Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, String Orchestra, and Big Band. Associate Directors are Milica Paranosic, Peter Jarvis, Debra Kaye, Seth Boustead, and Audrey Morse. Composers Concordance has also created a Naxos-distributed record label: Composers Concordance Records. Composers Concordance’s overriding vision is to promote contemporary music, composers, and new works as a rightful and respected part of society. Good music performed and recorded well, pushing the boundaries of sound and composition.
“Composers Concordance..a veritable New York new music institution of concerts, album production and multiple ensembles under a sweeping, tenacious brand, thriving on the emulsion of contemporary classical, free improv, jazz and rock, overt humor and fearless political statements, all very much in evidence..The ensemble..was masterful throughout.”- John Pietaro, The New York City Jazz Record
“An unwavering force in giving composers exposure through concert bookings and its own record label, the intrepid new-music organization Composers Concordance” – The Brooklyn Rail
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