2012-13 concerts with the Houston Symphony

Brett Mitchell will return to the Houston Symphony as guest conductor for three programs during their 2012-13 season. He will first lead the orchestra's 19th annual season preview ("Open House") in August. He will then lead "Lunada"--the orchestra's annual celebration of Latin American music--in October. Finally, he will return for his sixth consecutive New Year's Eve Gala in December. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "Schedule" link above.

Brett Mitchell invited to participate in Solti Conductors' Competition

Out of more than 400 applicants, Brett Mitchell has been selected as one of only 22 conductors to compete in the 6th International Conductors' Competition Sir Georg Solti. This competition will take place between September 17 and 23, 2012, in Frankfurt, Germany, with both the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester and The Frankfurt Radio Symphony. For more information, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Brett Mitchell named Music Director of the Moores Opera Center

HOUSTON — After serving as guest conductor for five productions over the past three seasons, the Moores Opera Center in Houston has just appointed Brett Mitchell as Music Director, effective September 2012.

Mitchell will lead the company in up to four fully staged works each season throughout his initial three-year contract.

Mitchell will also serve as Assistant Professor on the Moores School of Music faculty at the University of Houston throughout this appointment.

Return engagements with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

After leading six education concerts with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra during the 2010-11 season, Brett Mitchell has been invited to return to the orchestra for another six concerts in February 2012. For more information, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Honors delivered to "Il Postino"

Last season's production of Daniel Catán's "Il Postino" at the Moores Opera Center, for which Brett Mitchell served as Music Director, has garnered top honors from the National Opera Association: the April 2011 production was ranked first 1 in Division IV of the Opera Production Competition. For more, please click here.

New Year's Eve 2011 with the Houston Symphony

Brett Mitchell will lead his fifth consecutive New Year's Eve gala concert with the Houston Symphony, held on December 31 at 8 p.m. at the Centrum. This year's concert will celebrate the art of dance via both classical and light classical selections. For more information or to purchase tickets for this event, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

The Philadelphia Orchestra, 2011-12

Brett Mitchell will continue for a third season as cover conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra, covering several weeks of subscription programs with the Orchestra during their 2011-12 season. In February 2012, Mitchell will cover for Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Emanuel Ax in a program of Mozart and Brahms, while he will cover a program of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Tchaikovsky in March 2012. For more information, or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Brett Mitchell returns to Houston Symphony for three programs in October

Brett Mitchell will return to the Houston Symphony for the first time since his four-year tenure as assistant conductor concluded in May for three concerts this October. Mitchell will first lead a special outreach concert at The Methodist Hospital on October 27, then the orchestra's annual Halloween concert in The Woodlands on October 28. He will then lead his fifth consecutive "Lunada," a free concert celebrating the music of Latin America on October 29. For more information, or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Two additional programs added with the Houston Symphony in 2011-12

In addition to five already-scheduled concerts, Brett Mitchell will lead another two programs with the Houston Symphony during their 2011-12 season. Mitchell will first lead a special outreach concert at The Methodist Hospital on October 27, then the orchestra's annual Halloween concert at the Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands on October 28. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Return engagements with the National Symphony Orchestra

After leading a dozen concerts with the National Symphony Orchestra both at The Kennedy Center and on tour during the 2010-11 season, Brett Mitchell has been invited to return to the orchestra for another pair of family concerts in March 2012. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Brett Mitchell to return to Moores Opera Center for two productions in 2011-12

Following successful runs of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Daniel Catán's "Il Postino" on the Moores Opera Center's 2010-11 season, Brett Mitchell has been engaged to lead two new productions with that company during their 2011-12 season. Mitchell will first lead four performances of Verdi's "Falstaff" in October 2011, then three performances of Daron Hagen's new work, "Amelia," in January 2012. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

2011-12 concerts with the Houston Symphony

Brett Mitchell will return to the Houston Symphony as guest conductor for three programs during their 2011-12 season. He will first lead "Lunada"--the orchestra's annual celebration of Latin American music--in October, followed by his fifth consecutive New Year's Eve Gala in December. He will return in April 2012 for three Pops subscription performances celebrating the Great American Songbook. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Preview: "Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra readies for new season"

WNEM TV5 (CBS) has published a preview of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra's 2011-12 concert series. The season--called "Pure Music, Pure Michigan"--will be Brett Mitchell's second as music director. To read the article, please click here.

Brett Mitchell: ‘Schools must celebrate music education to build leaders of the next generation’

SAGINAW, Mich. — Brett Mitchell has written an op-ed in today's Saginaw News about the importance of music education in public schools to build the next generation of leaders.

Music education must not only be embraced but celebrated in Saginaw Public Schools, for it is a crucial component of building the next generation of leaders in mid-Michigan. 

There are myriad, well-documented reasons to support music education in our schools. Practically speaking, many studies over the past three decades have shown the correlation between students enrolled in music classes and achieving higher test scores in other academic fields. 

Playing a musical instrument fosters critical listening, both to oneself and to others, and inevitably translates to other classroom settings. 

While critical listening skills learned in music classes are transferred directly to math, science and literature classes, they also lead to improved critical reading skills, increasing students’ comprehension and retention of materials learned throughout the school day.

Too often, the arts are seen as an “extra,” not an integral component of our children’s education. They are deemed an extracurricular activity, something outside the scope of standard childhood education.

Nothing could be more disappointing or further from what the successful leaders of tomorrow need. We live in a society that prizes completeness above all else; we demand our leaders be well versed in many subjects, and hire employees whose interests are similarly far-reaching. Unless we offer arts education to the youth of Saginaw, we are depriving our children of the opportunity to become these well-read, broadly educated, fully contributing members of our society.

When deciding where to pursue my college degrees some 15 years ago, I chose to pursue all three — bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate — at public liberal arts universities, first at Western Washington University, then at the University of Texas at Austin.

I had other offers from music conservatories, but ultimately chose not to constrain myself to what I felt would be an education too narrowly focused on just one subject. Science, mathematics, philosophy, literature — all are crucial components of becoming a well-rounded citizen of the world in the 21st century. 

I desperately want children in Saginaw to have the same opportunity: to study subjects in every field today to prepare them to make their fullest contributions to our society tomorrow. 

Offering students the opportunity to acquire these diverse skills by, for example, studying a string instrument in orchestra, is crucial if the Saginaw Public Schools are to turn out well-rounded, complete students. 

We have an obligation to pass onto the next generation all the skills that will help them, and our society as a whole, to flourish.

Throughout history, our greatest leaders have understood the fundamental necessity of arts and arts education in our culture. As President Kennedy said in his final State of the Union address, “The future of any country which is dependent upon the will and wisdom of its citizens is damaged, and irreparably damaged, whenever any of its children is not educated to the full extent of his talent. ... This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.”

Several months earlier, President Kennedy also reminded us that “The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a nation, is very close to the center of a nation’s purpose — and is a test of the quality of a nation’s civilization.”

During World War II, Winston Churchill’s finance minister proclaimed that Britain should cut arts funding to support the war effort. Churchill’s response: “Then what are we fighting for?”

By offering music courses, Saginaw Public Schools have an opportunity to become a leader in our state, cultivating a culture of complete education for our children, embracing both academic and artistic excellence, and paving the way for a brighter, more rewarding tomorrow.

To read complete op-ed, please click here.

Brett Mitchell to co-host two episodes of KUHF's "Music from the Movies"

Brett Mitchell will return to one of his earliest musical loves--film scores--when he co-hosts two upcoming episodes of KUHF's "Music from the Movies." These episodes will air at 7 p.m. CST on Saturday, December 18, and Saturday, January 8, 2011. For more information on "Music from the Movies," please click here.

Contract extension with the Houston Symphony

HOUSTON — The Houston Symphony has announced a second extension of Brett Mitchell's contract as Assistant Conductor for a fourth season, ending in May 2011.

Mitchell will continue leading the orchestra in its classical, pops, education, and outreach programs throughout the 2010-11 season.

Front-Page Story: "Brett Mitchell to lead Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra"

The Saginaw News has published a front-page story with extensive coverage of Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. To read this article, please click here.

Brett Mitchell named Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra

SAGINAW — After a multi-season search process drawing on a pool of over 160 applicants, Brett Mitchell has been named the next music director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, effective July 2010.

Mitchell will lead the orchestra in its classical, pops, and education series throughout each season of his three-year contract, which runs through June 2013.

To read a story about this appointment that appeared on the front page of today's Saginaw News, please click here.

Lorin Maazel appoints Brett Mitchell assistant conductor of the 2010 Castelton Festival

After participating in last summer's inaugural Castleton Festival as an apprentice conductor, Brett Mitchell has been personally invited by Lorin Maazel to return to the 2010 Festival as assistant conductor and coach. Mr. Mitchell will prepare a new production of Puccini's Trittico (Il Tabarro, Gianni Schicchi, and Suor Angelica), and will share a concert program with Maestro Maazel during the Festival. For more information or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.

Cover Conductor for The Philadelphia Orchestra

After successfully auditioning with The Philadelphia Orchestra in December 2009, Brett Mitchell has been invited to cover several subscription weeks with the Orchestra in May 2010. These programs will be led by chief conductor Charles Dutoit, and will feature works of Stravinsky, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, and more. For more information, or to purchase tickets for these events, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.