Cello Sonata
Kevin Day, composer
Thomas Mesa, cello
Michelle Cann, piano

Featuring cellist Thomas Mesa and pianist Michelle Cann, OUR STORIES from Navona Records aims to raise the voices of composers and performers from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in classical music. Made possible by PARMA Recordings and a Sphinx MPower Grant, this release musically conveys a diverse mixture of themes and topics, from the intricacies and curiosities of human communication to fear-inducing information prevalent in the media, reflections on the acceptance of life’s inevitable changes and losses, and more. Dive in and explore the masterful contemporary works of Andrea Casarrubios, Carlos Carrillo, Kevin Day, Sebastian Quesada, and Mario Oyanadel.

Recorded December 7-8, 2022 at Oktaven Audio in Mount Vernon NY
Session Producer, Editing and Mixing Brad Michel
Session Engineer Ryan Streber

Dolby Atmos® Mixing/Mastering Brad Michel

Available on all streaming platforms now.
Copyright - Navona Records/Parma Recordings

Michelle Cann, Thomas Mesa: Cello Sonata (Our Stories)

Michelle Cann, Thomas Mesa: Cello Sonata - III. Giocoso

Michelle Cann, Thomas Mesa: Cello Sonata - II. Lento

Michelle Cann, Thomas Mesa: Cello Sonata - I. Allegro Agitato

Kevin Day (b. 1996) is an internationally acclaimed composer, conductor, and jazz pianist based in San Diego, California. Known for his exuberant, introspective, and groove-oriented composition style, Mr Day’s music fuses genres such as jazz, contemporary classical, R&B, Soul, and more. He has been performed by some of the world’s top instrumental soloists, wind bands, chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras. He has composed over 250 works, nine concerti, and has had performances throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, Japan, and more.

Mr. Day is the recipient of a MacDowell Fellowship for Music Composition, a winner of the BMI Composer Award, the TCU Alumni Outstanding Young Professional Award, a three-time ASCAP Morton Gould Finalist, a finalist for the ABA Sousa-Oswald Award, and a finalist for the NBA Revelli Award. His most recent works include his acclaimed Concerto for Wind Ensemble, as well as a double concerto for trombone and piano entitled Departures, which will be premiered later this year by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Cincinnati Opera recently announced the launch of The Black Opera Project, a ground-breaking three-opera commissioning initiative that engages Black creators to develop new works celebrating Black stories. Mr. Day’s original opera, LALOVAVI: An Afro-Futurist opera in Three Acts, will be the first work to be featured.  

A native of Arlington, Texas, Mr. Day holds degrees from Texas Christian University (TCU), the University of Georgia, and is ABD completing his doctorate in composition from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. He has studied composition with Dorothy Hindman, Charles Norman Mason, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Emily Koh, Gabriela Lena Frank, and Neil Anderson-Himmelspach.