Leigh Mesh

Leigh Mesh, double bass, has been associate principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra since 1993. After graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music, he played with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, and later the Indianapolis and Chicago symphony orchestras. He has led classes at Miami’s New World Symphony, the Cincinnati Conservatory, The Juilliard School, the Jacobs School of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music. Mr. Mesh is the double bass coach of the Verbier Festival Youth Orchestra, and is artist-faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has been a guest artist with the Verbier Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Strings Music Festival, Linton Chamber Music Series, and Pensacola Classicfest, performing with Thomas Quasthoff, Salvatore Accardo, Lynn Harrell, Lisa Batiashvili, Yuja Wang, Gautier Capuçon, and Daniel Hope. Mr. Mesh has performed with the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, the Caramoor Virtuosi, and the Brentano, Ebene and Tokyo string quartets. Mr. Mesh was on the faculty of the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles in the 2009–10 school year, and in 2010 joined the faculty of Bard College. His wife, Nancy Wu, is associate concertmaster of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Mr. Mesh is an exclusive artist for Thomastik-Infeld Strings.