NEWS
Season Announcement: "A Peek At The Colorado Symphony's 2018-19 Schedule"
Music Director Brett Mitchell and the Colorado Symphony. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
DENVER — Colorado Public Radio Classical has published a story about the Colorado Symphony's newly announced 2018-19 season, which will mark Brett Mitchell's second as Music Director:
The Colorado Symphony announced its plans for the 2018-19 season today. The lineup features masterworks, a smattering of pops concerts, and concerts by legendary violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman.
There’s also a healthy dose of music by living composers—one of Music Director Brett Mitchell’s passions—including Jennifer Higdon, Mason Bates, and John Adams.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights:
Sept. 14-16: The opening weekend program includes Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 and a new piece by composer and Colorado Symphony timpanist William Hill.
Sept. 28-30: The orchestra performs George Gershwin’s Concerto in F with pianist Joyce Yang. The program also includes Duke Ellington’s “Three Black Kings” and John Adams’ “City Noir.”
Nov. 2-4: The symphony marks the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I with a performance of Benjamin Britten’s "War Requiem" with the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Colorado Children’s Chorale.
Jan. 10, 2019: Violinist Itzhak Perlman makes an appearance with the symphony, playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
March 1-3: The symphony plays two pieces by composer Mason Bates, including a Cello Concerto with cellist Joshua Roman. The program includes Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven.
May 24-26: The season ends with a performance of Carl Orff’s powerful “Carmina Burana,” with help from the Colorado Symphony Chorus and Colorado Children’s Chorale.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Video: Bringing Music to Life
DENVER — Brett Mitchell has filmed a promotional video for Bringing Music to Life, a Denver-based not-for-profit that enriches the lives of Colorado children and their communities by collecting, repairing, and distributing donated musical instruments to schools and music programs, providing children who otherwise might not have the opportunity with the benefits that come from learning to play.
Brett Mitchell returns to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
DALLAS — Brett Mitchell will return to guest conduct the Dallas Symphony Orchestra during their 2018-19 season, the orchestra has announced. Mr. Mitchell will lead four performances of the following program on October, 4, 5, 6, and 7, 2018, at Meyerson Symphony Center:
THEOFANIDIS - Rainbow Body
ELGAR - Cockaigne (In London Town)
ORFF - Carmina Burana
Additional information can be found in the following articles:
Dallas Morning News: "Dallas Symphony Orchestra unveils its 2018-19 season. Who will lead when Jaap van Zweden leaves?"
Texas Classical Review: "20 conductors take podium duties in the Dallas Symphony’s 2018-19 season"
Debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
VANCOUVER — Brett Mitchell will make his subscription debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on February 7, 8, and 9, 2019, as part of the orchestra's 100th-anniversary season, the organization has announced. The program will be:
SMETANA - The Moldau
GRIEG - Piano Concerto
Andrew von Oeyen, piano
DVOŘÁK - Symphony No. 8
For more information, please click here.
Preview: "Daphnis et Chloé" with the Colorado Symphony
Brett Mitchell will lead the Colorado Symphony and Chorus in works of Debussy, Salonen, and Ravel on February 2, 3, and 4 at Boettcher Concert Hall in downtown Denver. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
DENVER — Westword has included Brett Mitchell's upcoming subscription weekend with the Colorado Symphony on its list of "The 21 Best Events in Denver, January 30-February 5":
Valentine's Day is still weeks away, but readers can get into the loverly spirit early at a trio of concerts from the esteemed Colorado Symphony. Conductor Brett Mitchell welcomes the Colorado Symphony Chorus (under the direction of Duain Wolfe) and soprano Jessica Rivera to bring Maurice Ravel's "choreographed symphony," Daphnis et Chloé, to thrillingly balletic life. Romantic interpretations of the Greek mythos thematically bind a music program that also includes Claude Debussy's "Syrinx" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun," as well as Esa-Pekka Salonen's "Five Images After Sappho." Showtimes are at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, February 2, and Saturday, February 3, with an additional 1 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday, February 4; all performances will be at Boettcher Concert Hall, in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Visit the Symphony's box-office page for tickets, $15 to $89, and more details.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Video: "The new face of the Colorado Symphony"
DENVER — Next with Kyle Clark, the 6 p.m. newscast from Denver's NBC affiliate, has produced a profile of Brett Mitchell as he continues into the second half of his inaugural season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony.
To watch the profile as it appeared on the live broadcast, please click the video above or visit the story on 9NEWS's website: "The new face of the Colorado Symphony".
To watch an extended, unedited clip (12 min.), please click the video below.
Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of Colorado Symphony featured in "The Year in Denver Arts and Culture"
Brett Mitchell and the Colorado Symphony welcomed soprano Renée Fleming for his inaugural concert as Music Director at Boettcher Concert Hall on September 9, 2017. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
DENVER — The Denver Business Journal features Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in its 2017 year-in-review, "The Year in Denver Arts and Culture":
This was a year of fresh starts and breakthroughs on the local culture front... A look back at some cultural highlights of 2017:
The symphony gets a refresh. Brett Mitchell, new CSO conductor, bows with a season-opener concert featuring opera superstar Renée Fleming. In an interview with the Denver Business Journal, Mitchell said, “It takes years to figure out where a new music director is taking an orchestra,” Mitchell said. “The things you will notice right away are the programming… look at kinds of repertoire I like to program, you’ll see more of that contemporary American voice.” Overall, the down-to-earth maestro said, “my goal is to give the audience reason to come to the concert. Because I’ve got Spotify like everybody else. I could listen in my living room, with my glass of wine, with my wife, and not put pants on…”
To read the complete article, please click here. (Subscription required.)
Brett Mitchell's performances with The Cleveland Orchestra featured in "2017 Classical Music Year in Review"
Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra in four performances of West Side Story at Severance Hall in June 2017. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — The Plain Dealer has included Brett Mitchell's performances of West Side Story with The Cleveland Orchestra among the highlights of its "2017 Classical Music Year in Review":
It had been a while since this fan had seen "West Side Story" or attended the complete score by Leonard Bernstein. But my love for both the film and the music came rushing back in June when the Cleveland Orchestra and then-associate conductor Brett Mitchell concluded their 2016-17 Severance Hall season with a stellar live performance of the work. If ever there were any doubts about orchestras accompanying films, that night laid them all to rest for good.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Yo-Yo Ma joins Brett Mitchell and the Colorado Symphony (Sun., Dec. 10)
The Colorado Symphony and music director Brett Mitchell welcome Yo-Yo Ma to Denver on Sunday, December 10.
DENVER — Yo-Yo Ma will join the Colorado Symphony and music director Brett Mitchell for a sold-out performance on Sunday, December 10 at Boettcher Concert Hall in downtown Denver. On the program:
WILLIAMS - Sound the Bells!
COPLAND - Appalachian Spring (complete ballet for full orchestra)
DVOŘÁK - Cello Concerto
To learn more, please click here.
Debut with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra
INTERLOCHEN, MI — Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Center for the Arts on Sunday, July 29, 2018, the organization has announced. The program will be:
BATES - Devil's Radio
DVOŘÁK - Romance for Violin and Orchestra (Jeff Thayer, violin)
BRAHMS - Symphony No. 4
For more information, please click here.
Colorado Symphony will present "Star Wars: A New Hope"
Brett Mitchell will lead two performances of John Williams's iconic score for Star Wars: A New Hope with the Colorado Symphony in March 2018.
DENVER — Westword has published a preview of two newly announced performances Brett Mitchell will lead during his inaugural season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
The Colorado Symphony, led by ambitious new music director Brett Mitchell, will be performing the score of Star Wars: A New Hope, alongside two fortieth anniversary screenings of the film, in March 2018.
Back in 1977, this first Star Wars movie introduced such characters as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and Darth Vader to the Hollywood pantheon. The score won composer John Williams an Academy Award; it has been designated the greatest American film score of all time by the American Film Institute.
The concert will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, and 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 24, at Broomfield's 1STBANK Center.
From a preview by The Denver Post:
Whether you love or loathe “Star Wars,” it’s difficult to deny that its score is a masterpiece. As soon as the horns in the intro of “Main Theme” strike up, Earth becomes a distant memory, replaced by space ship battles, brother-sister bonding experiences and the beautiful sensibility of a universe where a greedy bounty hunter alien is named “Greedo.”
If you can’t hear the strings yet, you will soon. Led by Music Director Brett Mitchell, the Colorado Symphony announced it will bring John Williams’ massive score from “Star Wars: A New Hope” to Broomfield’s FirstBank Center in 2018 for what it claims is the first time in Colorado history.
Finally, 303 Magazine also has a preview:
We are mere weeks away from the opening of the latest movie to join the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But it’s not the only Star Wars event on the horizon worth looking forward to — descending upon the 1stBank Center for two days only, on March 22 and 24, 2018, The Colorado Symphony will present Star Wars: A New Hope. The event will feature live performances of the musical scores alongside screenings of the complete movie as conducted by Colorado Symphony Music Director, Brett Mitchell. John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score to A New Hope will surely provide an unforgettable symphonic experience for the many generations of Star Wars fans in Colorado.
Review: "Romanticism, grandeur mark symphony concert"
Brett Mitchell was the guest conductor for the San Antonio Symphony classical concert Friday night at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. (Photo by Jeff Nelson)
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Express-News has published a review of Brett Mitchell's debut with the San Antonio Symphony:
Elegant 19th-century European Romanticism was answered by 20th-century American heroics during the San Antonio Symphony’s classical series concert Friday night.
Two talented guest artists, a pianist and a conductor, made sure the program of Franz Liszt and Aaron Copland was both varied and compatible....
[Pianist Scott] Cuellar and guest conductor Brett Mitchell, of the Colorado Symphony, collaborated for a luxuriant exploration of the concerto rather than a flashy, flamboyant one....
The concert concluded with Copland’s Symphony No. 3, known for its use of the composer’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” Most of the work was characterized by pastoral scenery punctuated by surges of orchestral power.
Mitchell conjured a sense of spaciousness, especially in the third movement. The fanfare, introduced by flutes in the fourth movement, unfolded with spine-tingling grandeur. It seemingly spoke of a nation poised for an unbridled future of progress and prosperity, which the United States was when the piece premiered in 1946.
The concert opened with Liszt’s “Les Préludes,” one of music history’s original symphonic poems. Mitchell added drama with slower tempos than is usually heard. The relaxed pace was especially effective for the love theme in the middle before the work’s initial soaring theme returned with brassy glory at the end.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Feature: "One Orchestra, Three Weeks, Four Living Composers"
Brett Mitchell with the Colorado Symphony during his inaugural concert as Music Director on September 9, 2017. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
DENVER — Brett Mitchell's focus on contemporary American music during his inaugural season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony is the focus of a new article by Teddy Niedermaier.
In September 2017, the Colorado Symphony opened its season by featuring four living composers in a span of three consecutive weeks. This was a bold and auspicious move for Brett Mitchell, the orchestra's new Music Director. It's also welcome news for composers and musicians alike who would like to see more contemporary offerings on symphony programs. Here's what they played:
Sept. 9 (concert featuring Renée Fleming): Peter Boyer, New Beginnings (2000)
Sept. 15-17 (official opening weekend): Kevin Puts, Millennium Canons (2001) & Mason Bates, The B-Sides: Five Pieces for Orchestra (2009) (The composer participated in these performances)
Sept. 22-24: Missy Mazzoli, These Worlds in Us (2006)
Such programming flies in the face of recent statistics showing that major American orchestras devote relatively little time to newer compositions. A survey of 22 large American orchestras in 2014-2015 showed that only 11.4% of programmed pieces were by living composers that season, and in 2015-2016 that number remained essentially constant at 12%...
"A lot of great art...in 21st-century America"
In the Colorado Symphony's 2017-2018 season brochure, Brett Mitchell writes, "The opening weekend of our Classics series pairs Beethoven's immortal Fifth Symphony with two contemporary American works I think you'll really love." In this pairing, Mitchell's inclusion of new music goes far beyond tokenism--or the idea that orchestras play new music here and there merely out of "obligation" or to maintain the appearance of being modern and relevant. For Mitchell, the Puts-Bates-Beethoven lineup bore specific, meaningful connections: the driving rhythms in Bates's B-Sides evoked the opening of Beethoven's Fifth, whereas the fanfares in Puts's Millennium Canons echoed its triumphant finale.
Bates's B-sides, a five-movement, 23-minute commission from the San Francisco Symphony, is a major work modeled after Schoenberg's iconic Five Pieces for Orchestra, op. 16. This inclusion too bucks a trend which states that new compositions must be relegated to "overture" status--ancillary, peripheral exercises to be wrapped up before the main "meat" of an orchestral program. In interviews played during the live Colorado Public Radio broadcast of the Sept. 15 opener, Mitchell again emphasized the interconnectedness of the Puts, Bates, and Beethoven works, placing the composers on equal footing as if they were musical colleagues having a conversation. These connections resonated with Jeffrey Nytch in his review titled "A New Beginning at the Colorado Symphony":
This program, pairing Beethoven’s Fifth with a first half of works by Kevin Puts and Mason Bates, presents a coherent package. Puts and Bates complemented the Beethoven – just as Beethoven retroactively complemented Puts and Bates. This wasn’t cynical programming; this was thoughtful programming that gave every piece on the docket an equal role in service to the whole.
The vision behind this was that of the Colorado Symphony’s new Music Director, Brett Mitchell, and it’s a vision that plays out over the course of the entire season. In concert after concert we see not just a mix of canonical standards with lesser-known classics (or a refreshing number of new works), but a pairing of old and new that illuminates both. Such is certainly the case in this opening concert, where the vibrance of Kevin Puts’ Millennium Canons foreshadows the brass fanfares of the Beethoven finale, and where the pulsing rhythms of Mason Bates’ The B-Sides set us up for the insistent drive of that famous 4-note motive that not only opens the Fifth but spins its way through the entire symphony like a 19th-century version of a techno beat.
The following week in Denver brought Missy Mazzoli's These Worlds in Us, winner of the 2007 ASCAP Young Composer Award, paired with Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Tchaikovsky's epic Fifth Symphony. While this program more neatly fits the typical overture-concerto-symphony format, Mitchell addressed the audience from the podium to reinforce his belief in the importance of new music. "There's a lot of great art being created in 21st-century America, and we hope to share some of that with you," he said, adding that he hoped to "pique your interest" and "pique your curiosity" throughout the season. And here too there were thoughtful musical connections, as the haunting lyricism and E tonality of the Mazzoli foreshadowed the dark E minor opening of the Tchaikovsky.
A Broad Landscape
The programming of new music by American orchestras should reflect the broad, diverse musical landscape of contemporary composition in the United States. And by playing the four composers listed above, the Colorado Symphony has begun to paint a vivid picture of that diversity. Composer Peter Boyer, whose New Beginnings was commissioned by the Kalamazoo Symphony, has achieved considerable success in the arenas of concert music and film music. Kevin Puts, a St. Louis native, is now the Director of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer's Institute, a crucial training ground for emerging orchestral composers. Missy Mazzoli has already forged her reputation as an important voice in American opera with the successful premiere of Breaking the Waves in Philadelphia last year. And Mason Bates, former composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony, is a DJ who has incorporated electronica into many of his large orchestral works; he too has broken into opera this year with The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs for the Santa Fe Opera.
In these four composers alone we glimpse an exciting cross-section of sounds, styles, and genres. While it's not a complete picture, we can take the Colorado Symphony's recent programming as a healthy sign that 21st-century orchestral music is vibrant, diverse, relevant, and deserving of a prominent place in American concert halls.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Feature: "Know Your Art: Symphony Conductor Brett Mitchell"
Brett Mitchell at home in Denver in September 2017. (Photo by Jeff Nelson)
DENVER — Denver Life Magazine has published a feature about Brett Mitchell, coinciding with his first season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
If he hadn’t found his calling in music, Brett Mitchell—the 38-year-old Seattle native who assumes command of the Colorado Symphony this fall as the organization’s fourth music director—might have made a decent cult leader in another life. He’s self-assured, charming and prone to expounding on the virtues of classical music with such single-minded fervor that, listening to him, one feels the urge to run out, buy a bassoon or cello and start logging practice hours. He also has a knack for leading large groups of passionate people—a talent that has made him one of the most successful and sought-after young conductors in the country. In his short career, he has served as associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, assistant conductor of the Houston Symphony and assistant conductor of the Orchestre National de France, as well as a handful of other equally impressive titles. Now he’s bringing his considerable ability to Denver, kicking off his four-year tenure with a season featuring a diverse array of performances—from Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” to the score of “Jurassic Park.” We sat down with Mitchell to ask about life on the conductor’s podium.
Did you grow up with classical music? Actually, no. I come from a family of a lot of wonderful people, none of whom are musicians. When I was growing up, we didn’t really have classical music in the house. The only thing we had was an LP of (Vladimir) Horowitz and a cassette with “The Nutcracker Suite” by Tchaikovsky on one side, and “Peter and the Wolf” by Prokofiev on the other. That was it.
So you discovered classical music on your own? Exactly. I was in high school when I started composing and conducting. During my sophomore year, the high school band took a trip to Disneyland, where we saw a nighttime show called “Fantasmic!” At the time, the sheet music for that show hadn’t been released, but my band director, whom I’m still very close with, said she wanted to play some of those songs. She knew I had a good ear, so as we were going through the show, she had me write down the music that I was hearing on a paper towel. Then I bought the CD, and over that summer, between my sophomore and junior years, I transcribed the music and arranged it for my high school band. It was at that point that the band director said, “Why don’t you just conduct it yourself?” I was 16. It was the first performance I ever conducted, October of 1995. I still remember standing backstage, shaking like a leaf.
Then you studied music in college? Correct. I got my composition degree at Western Washington University because I thought I wanted to score films. About halfway through college, I decided I wanted to conduct instead of compose. When you’re a composer, most of what you do is alone. Being a conductor, you get to work with your colleagues in the orchestra, the chorus, and then you get to play for thousands of people. It’s much more social. That’s why I made the switch. The solitary part of being a composer just didn’t do it for me.
What abilities does a conductor need? Communication skills, definitely. Group psychology is an enormous part of it. Leadership, of course. If you looked at my bookshelf at home, most of what you would find would be music books and books on leadership.
What about the people who say, “Classical music is boring—it’s not for me”? Part of the issue is that when people think of classical music, they think of music by—and I mean this with love in my heart—Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann. And that music actually takes a little bit more effort to get inside of, because it gets played on classical radio like background music. Now take Mahler, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky—those boys weren’t writing background music. Their music is intended to grab you by the throat. So when people say, “Oh, classical music is boring,” it may just be that their entrée into classical music was not the best. Frankly, Bach and Haydn and Mozart wrote a lot of music that was designed to be background music; it was music for rich people to eat dinner by. But that’s not the kind of thing I’m interested in programming and conducting.
How do you hope to make the Colorado Symphony’s 2017-18 season unique? It’s really important in life—whether you’re on a date or conducting an orchestra—that people be themselves. There’s nothing worse than pretending to be somebody you’re not. So long as I remain genuine and authentic in who I am, I think I’ll bring something new to the table.
What drives you, artistically and professionally? When I was a little boy, during the days I had a caretaker named Janet who looked after me. One morning, my mom was getting ready to take me to Janet’s house, and we were listening to the radio. A song came on that I’d never heard, and it hit me really hard. “Do we have a record of this?” I asked her. This was around 1982. She told me we did, so I said, “I want to play this song for Janet. It’s so pretty.” Rather than argue with a 3-year-old, which is never a winning strategy, my mom drove us to Janet’s house and we sat together, the three of us, grouped around the record player, and listened to Barry Manilow’s “Mandy.” I was as happy as could be. I tell this story a lot because I feel it illustrates exactly what I do today. I find music that I love, and I share it with people. Whether that’s two people in a living room in Seattle in 1982, or 10,000 people at Red Rocks in 2018, it doesn’t matter to me. I do what I do because I feel impelled to share the music I love.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Brett Mitchell featured on Denver 8 TV's "ArtScene"
DENVER — Brett Mitchell is featured in the latest episode of Denver 8 TV's ArtScene, discussing his musical background and upcoming projects during his inaugural season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony. To watch this story, please click the video above. Mr. Mitchell's segment begins at 20:04.
Debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in May 2018, leading multiple subscription weekends in Auckland Town Hall (pictured above) and the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington.
WELLINGTON — Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, leading two weekends of subscription programs in Auckland and Wellington in May 2018, the organization has announced.
On May 11 (Wellington) and May 18 (Auckland), Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra will present Bernstein at 100, a program celebrating the centennial of American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein:
• BERNSTEIN - Three Dance Episodes and selections from On the Town
• BERNSTEIN - "Dream with Me" from Peter Pan
• BERNSTEIN - Symphonic Suite from On the Waterfront
• BERNSTEIN - Overture and selections from Candide
• BERNSTEIN - Symphonic Dances and selections from West Side Story
American singer, songwriter, and actress Morgan James will join Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra for vocal selections throughout the program.
The Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, New Zealand.
On May 12 (Wellington) and May 19 (Auckland), Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra will present a program of Italian symphonic favorites:
• VIVALDI - The Four Seasons
• BERLIOZ - Roman Carnival
• RESPIGHI - Pines of Rome
Angelo Xiang Yu, winner of the 2010 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition, will be the soloist for the Vivaldi.
Preview: "NZSO's Dynamic 2018 season"
WELLINGTON — Radio New Zealand has published a preview of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's 2018 season, which will feature Brett Mitchell's debut as he leads four concerts in Auckland and Wellington in May 2018.
Music Director of Colorado Symphony Brett Mitchell will conduct two projects, including Vivaldi's Four Seasons with violinist Angelo Xiang Yu.
Mitchell will also be conducting Bernstein at 100, marking the birthday of Leonard Bernstein. Broadway performer and Postmodern Jukebox vocalist Morgan James will lend her voice to the iconic pieces of music.
To read and listen to the complete preview, please click here. (Mr. Mitchell's programs are discussed from 11:30 to 17:00.)
For more information on Mr. Mitchell's programs with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, please click here.
Mason Bates on Brett Mitchell
Brett Mitchell and composer Mason Bates backstage at Boettcher Concert Hall after Mitchell’s inaugural subscription performances as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony.
Composer Mason Bates has written a reflection on his recent experience collaborating with Brett Mitchell on his opening concerts as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
Maestro Brett Mitchell opened the Colorado Symphony’s subscription series with characteristic panache, pairing Beethoven with my The B-Sides and a fanfare by Kevin Puts. Launching his music directorship with a mix of new and old shows demonstrates the vivid programming of this dynamo. Mitchell rose to prominence at the Cleveland Orchestra, where he jumped in for last-minute appearances to much acclaim, and he always has his ear to the ground, listening for compelling American voices. But I’d never seen him conduct until last month.
Mitchell knows how to iron-out the myriad subtleties of an intricate piece like The B-Sides while staying focused on the larger arc. In the two acoustic movements “Aerosol Melody Hanalei” and “Temescal Noir,” for example, he stayed focused on the long-lined melodies while bringing out lots of nuances in the constantly-shifting metrical bed. In the electro-acoustic “Broom of the System,” I’ve come to expect that orchestras will need a few run-throughs before acclimating to the mercurial rhythms of the “future clock.” But Colorado played it near perfectly on its first run-through. It’s a fine orchestra with a mature and confident young maestro at its helm, and the crowd and vibe in the hall is hip.
To read the complete post, please click here.
Preview: "Five Classical Music Events To Hit This Week"
Brett Mitchell (pictured here in performance with The Cleveland Orchestra) will lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra's first Severance Hall performance of the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, October 4. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Scene has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's concert this week with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra:
Brett Mitchell recently left his post as associate conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra to take the reins of the Colorado Symphony — but he’s back to lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in the first of its performances this season at Severance Hall. On Wednesday, October 4 at 8:00 pm, the evening will begin with Arnold Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra, and feature Mason Bates’ The B-Sides for Orchestra and Electronica (2009) before concluding with Beethoven’s ever-popular Fifth Symphony. The concert is free, but you’ll need a ticket from the Severance Hall Box Office.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Live Broadcast Alert: Brett Mitchell Conducts the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra (Wed, Oct 4)
Brett Mitchell (pictured here in performance with The Cleveland Orchestra) will lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra's first Severance Hall performance of the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, October 4. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — Brett Mitchell will lead the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in their first Severance Hall performance of the 2017-18 season on Wednesday, October 4. This performance will be broadcast live at 8 p.m. Eastern on WCLV Classical 104.9 in Cleveland and online at WCLV.org.
The program features three revolutionary works composed in the first decade of the 19th, 20th, and 21st-centuries:
SCHOENBERG - Five Pieces for Orchestra
BATES - The B-Sides: Five Pieces for Orchestra and Electronica
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 5
Learn more and purchase tickets at the concert listing on CIM's website.