Get to know the first chair cellist: Tomas Mazeika
Tomas Mazeika playing in concert (Sophia Hughes, The Puma Prensa))
By Sophia Hughes, editor
What has become a life-long passion started as an elementary school requirement involving a recorder. It was “nothing special” until a spark of passion was ignited by a YouTube video of a cello player, later kindled by a few private lessons, Coldplay, and the piano brothers.
At first, Tomas Mazeika wasn’t very passionate about classical music but he grew fonder of it over time. Mazeika started to find a community in band and enjoyed the teamwork it required to make a piece sound good as music became more of an escape from academic stress. When Mazeika discovered jazz in high school, it was a game changer. The freedom and flexibility of jazz which requires expertise and creativity, opened him up to a whole new world of music. In the beginning, music was all about practicing until every note was hit perfectly until recently he sought more enjoyment. This year he found it in feeding off of the crowd's energy and thoughts.
Maria Carrillo's band teacher, Matt Bringedahl has taught Tomas for around 7 years, as he also teaches at Santa Rosa Charter School. These past seven years Bringedahl enjoyed watching him improve and mature. Mazeika leads his section and several other groups as well as some newer musicians, giving tips while also elevating their playing. “One of the things I admire about him is his lack of ego,” “everybody knows he’s the best one in the room, yet “he never lords that over people in a way that makes them feel bad about themselves” and “makes sure everyone is producing to the best of their ability." Some of Mazeika’s bandmates expressed similar thoughts with Hayden Forsyth expressing that “He is a natural leader” and Aanya Bedi explaining “He is always open and willing to help you truly improve.”
In Mazeika's free time, he practices a variety of compositions and instruments. Aside from playing the cello, he can also play electric base, standup base, ukelele, guitar, and a little bit of saxophone. After he picked up base, he has been constantly practicing and was also in the spring show: The Wizard of Oz. Even with all the instruments he plays he manages to consistently practice for the variety of positions he has in the band, “He knows his stuff, you can tell he’s practiced a lot and that he is passionate about what he does,” states his bandmate, Dylan De Castro.
On top of playing for The Wizard of Oz, he is also in Jazz Band One, Jazz Combo One, Orchestra, and Wind Ensemble. On top of this, Mazeika also plays the cello in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra. After participating in the Santa Rosa Symphony for six years he decided to take a chance and audition for the San Francisco Symphony as his senior year was approaching. Yet after joining, Mazeika realized he wanted to pursue law instead of music as a career. After meeting so many talented musicians it made him realize he would rather give others a chance in such a competitive field, especially if he had other interests.
Looking towards the future, Mazeika is choosing between the University of California or Johns Hopkins University, to major in philosophy, which will hopefully help him pursue law. After a recent concert, Mazeika was offered an opportunity to intern at Kerosky & Gallelli, a law firm specializing in immigration and nationality law, helping an immigration lawyer.
As for Mazeika's future music prospects, he might start a band in college or join an on-campus wind ensemble but he knows, “I will never quit music.”