NEWS
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.
"Star Wars: The Score Awakens" wins Best Documentary
Star Wars: The Score Awakens, an hourlong special in which Brett Mitchell explores the music of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has earned Best Documentary at the 2017 All Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards. In this special, which originally aired on WCLV Classical 104.9 in January 2016, Mr. Mitchell joins host Bill O'Connell in the KeyBank Studio for a thorough exploration of John Williams's first new Star Wars score in a decade via original soundtrack recordings and demonstrations at the piano. To listen to Star Wars: The Score Awakens, please click here.
Brett Mitchell receives commendations from Cleveland mayor and Confucius Institute
Anthony Yen presents Brett Mitchell with commendations from the Cleveland mayor and the Confucius Institute on Friday, May 12 at Severance Hall. (Photo by Zhang Xuhong
Hanban News (Beijing) has published an article about two commendations bestowed upon Brett Mitchell at his final concert as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra:
In 2015, Brett Mitchell led the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra on an international tour to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Ningbo, and conducted a barrier-free communication through the language of music to promote cultural exchange between China and the United States.
In recognition of Mr. Mitchell's contributions to exchanges between China and the United States, and to honor his musical achievements, Anthony Yen [Chairman of the Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University] presented Mr. Mitchell with a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the Confucius Institute. Mr. Yen also presented Mr. Mitchell with a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the mayor of Cleveland.
To read the complete article (in Chinese), please click here.
Debut with the San Antonio Symphony
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the San Antonio Symphony in November 2017 at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
The San Antonio Symphony has announced its 2017-18 season, which will include Brett Mitchell's debut with the orchestra on November 10 and 11, 2017. The program will be:
LISZT - Les Préludes
LISZT - Piano Concerto No. 1 (Scott Cuellar, piano)
COPLAND - Symphony No. 3
For complete information, please click here.
Debut with the National Repertory Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the National Repertory Orchestra in July 2017 with a program of Kenji Bunch, Schumann, and Copland.
Debut with the Sarasota Music Festival
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra on Saturday, June 17, 2017, the organization has announced. The program will be:
STRAVINSKY - Concerto in E-flat Major ("Dumbarton Oaks")
MOZART - Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216 (Alexander Kerr, violin)
MOZART - Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550
For complete information, please click here.
Colorado Symphony announces 2017-18 concert schedule for Brett Mitchell's inaugural season as Music Director
Denver, CO - The Colorado Symphony has announced its 2017-18 concert season schedule taking place at downtown Denver's Boettcher Concert Hall. This historic season features renowned guest artists and some of the world's most revered symphonic works as the Colorado Symphony celebrates Brett Mitchell's debut as Music Director. Notably, Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra will be joined by soprano Renée Fleming on Saturday, Sep. 9, 2017, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma on Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017
"For our first season together, I wanted to celebrate what makes the Colorado Symphony absolutely unique among orchestras: an extraordinarily wide variety of concerts that feature a compelling blend of old and new, all performed by some of the finest musicians in the country," says Music Director Designate Brett Mitchell, who assumes the role of Music Director on Jul. 1, 2017. "Of course, we're thrilled to welcome such special guests as Yo-Yo Ma and Renée Fleming, but I'm every bit as excited to showcase my incredible colleagues that make up the Colorado Symphony as we share the stage together all season long. I couldn't be happier to begin this next chapter in the Colorado Symphony story."
For more information, please see the official press release and brochure from the Colorado Symphony and these articles from The Denver Post and Colorado Public Radio.
"Colorado Symphony Launches Its Own Label, Details First Release"
Brett Mitchell conducts the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall in December 2016. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
Colorado Public Radio has published an article about the Colorado Symphony's announcement of the launch of its own record label:
The Colorado Symphony today announced the immediate release of its new album, a recording of the orchestra and its chorus performing Beethoven's beloved Symphony No. 9.
The album release itself was a surprise, but so was the distribution plan. The orchestra issued it as a digital download and on CD under a new label called Colorado Symphony Multimedia & Recording. (Naxos of America will help distribute the music.)
The move puts the Denver orchestra in a league with the Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and other major ensembles that run their own record labels....
Listeners get another chance to hear Beethoven's Ninth played live by the symphony next Friday and Saturday with conductor Brett Mitchell, who assumes the role of music director this fall.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Debut with the Grant Park Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Grant Park Orchestra in July 2017 with a program of Kenji Bunch, Saint-Saëns, and Copland.
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Grant Park Orchestra on Wednesday, July 19 during the 2017 Grant Park Music Festival, the organization announced on Wednesday:
Conductor Brett Mitchell leads the orchestra and rising star Angelo Xiang Yu in Saint-Saëns' romantic Violin Concerto No. 3. The evening opens with Kenji Bunch's uplifting Supermaximum and closes with The Red Pony, Aaron Copland's film score adapted from the John Steinbeck 1933 novella.
To learn more, please visit the following links:
Cleveland Orchestra Miami opens 2016-17 season with focus on Miami Community
Cleveland Orchestra Miami has published a press release about the kickoff of its 2016-17 season:
Cleveland Orchestra Miami begins its 2016-17 season in November. The first week of the 2016-17 season includes two Education concerts by The Cleveland Orchestra at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.
Education Concerts for Miami-Dade County Public Schools
The Cleveland Orchestra, led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell, will perform two education concerts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts on November 9, at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. These hour-long are free for students in the Miami-Dade County Public School District. The program, titled “The Sounds of the Orchestra,” will be performed for more than 4,000 fourth-grade students. Students will experience the distinct sounds of the string, woodwind, brass, and percussion sections, and will learn how composers weave these individual groups into diverse musical landscapes.
The Cleveland Orchestra joins Coral Reef High School Orchestra in a side-by-side rehearsal
This season, The Cleveland Orchestra will continue its longstanding collaboration with the Coral Reef High School Orchestra and director Lee W. Stone with a side-by-side rehearsal on January 31, 2017, at the school, led by Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell.
To read the complete press release, please click here.
CPR Classical to livestream Brett Mitchell's debut as Music Director Designate of the Colorado Symphony
Colorado Public Radio Classical has announced that it will present a live broadcast of Brett Mitchell's first concert as Music Director Designate of the Colorado Symphony. The concert takes place on Friday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m. Mountain at the orchestra's home of Boettcher Concert Hall in downtown Denver, and may be streamed live from anywhere in the world on CPRClassical.org. The program includes Beethoven's Overture from King Stephen; the world premiere of Colorado composer Daniel Kellogg's Rising Phoenix, a violin concerto written for the orchestra and its concertmaster, Yumi Hwang-Williams; and Dvorák's Symphony No. 8. More information about the program may be found here.
CPR Classical has also announced that it will rebroadcast Brett Mitchell's first concert with the Colorado Symphony—given at Boettcher Concert Hall in July 2016—four times this week (all times Mountain):
Thursday, October 6 at 1 and 7 p.m.
Saturday, October 8 at 12 p.m.
Sunday, October 9 at 1 p.m.
To listen to these broadcasts live from anywhere in the world, please visit CPRClassical.org.
Brett Mitchell joins the roster of CM Artists New York
Brett Mitchell has joined the roster of CM Artists New York, where he will be represented by Linda Marder. For more information, please see Mr. Mitchell's page on the CM Artists website.
"Cleveland O Associate Conductor to Colorado"
Musical America Worldwide has published an article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
Succeeding Andrew Litton as music director of the Colorado Symphony will be Brett Mitchell, associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of its youth orchestra. He serves as designate in Colorado's current season and starts in earnest next July....
Mitchell, 37, has guest conducted widely and apprenticed under Kurt Masur at the Orchestre National de France, as assistant conductor, and Lorin Maazel at the Castelton Festival.
To read the complete article (subscription required), please click here.
"Colorado Symphony announces budget surplus and new Music Director"
Pizzicato has published an article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
The Colorado Symphony is starting in the new season with a budget surplus of $1.7 million. Andrew Litton currently serves as Artistic Advisor, yet the orchestra just has appointed a new music director, Brett Mitchell, now associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. Mitchell will be music director designate for the 2016-2017 concert season, and will become music director in July 2017. Mitchell was born in Seattle in 1979. With approximately 150 musical performances per season the Colorado Symphony is one of the busiest orchestras in the United States.
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Cleveland Orchestra's Brett Mitchell named Music Director for Colorado Symphony"
The Classical Arts has published an article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
Brett Mitchell, the current associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, has been named as the new music director for the Colorado Symphony's upcoming season. The new appointment was announced on Monday in a published press release from the Colorado Symphony.
The Colorado Symphony's announcement revealed that Mitchell will begin his tenure as music director with the famed orchestra next year. The four-year term finds Mitchell replacing Andrew Litton, who served in the symphony's prestigious music director post since the year 2012.
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Colorado Symphony Orchestra announce new music director"
(Photo by Gregg Barckholtz)
The Violin Channel has published an article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra has today announced the appointment of 37 year old American conductor, Brett Mitchell as their new Music Director – effective from the commencement of the 2017/18 season.
A graduate of the University of Texas and the Western Washington University, Brett currently serves as Associate Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.
“Mitchell was unanimously selected by musicians and artistic leadership alike — a rare occurrence in the orchestra world when making such a momentous change …” Chief Artistic Officer, Anthony Pierce has said.
“Brett’s skill, character, and creativity won us all over, and he’s completely on board with our mission for innovative artistry and financial success …” he has said.
“From the first downbeat of our first rehearsal together, it was clear that the Colorado Symphony and I had that special chemistry vital to any great artistic partnership,” Mitchell has said.
He will replace conductor, Andrew Litton – who has served the position since 2012.
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Just in: Cleveland aide becomes music director"
Norman Lebrecht's Slipped Disc has published a brief article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
Brett Mitchell, Associate Conductor at the Cleveland Orchestra, has been named Music Director of the Colorado Symphony from next season. Brett, 37, has also been in charge of Cleveland’s youth orchestra. Colorado has bounced back from hard times with its first budget surplus.
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Colorado Symphony posts first budget surplus in 26 seasons, hires new music director"
The Denver Business Journal has published an article about Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
The [Colorado Symphony] is announcing the appointment of a new music director — Brett Mitchell, now associate conductor of the acclaimed Cleveland Orchestra. Mitchell will have the title of music director designate for the 2016-2017 concert season, will conduct five concerts this season and will become music director in July 2017.
Mitchell is also planning to make Denver his home, unlike many music directors of the past who lived elsewhere. In an e-mail interview with the Denver Business Journal, Mitchell expressed excitement for the move to Denver.
“There are so many reasons this marriage between the Colorado Symphony and me seems to be such a perfect fit, but the biggest is that our respective visions for the future of orchestras are one and the same," he said.
"Once I read the symphony's mission statement, I knew that I had finally found my ideal match, as we've both spent decades crafting programs that feature that wonderful, compelling blend of music ... from the best of the past to the edge of the future," Mitchell wrote. “Knowing that we're starting on the same page, pursuing the same goals and sharing a common purpose gives us a huge advantage.”
To read the complete article, please click here.
Brett Mitchell named Music Director of the Colorado Symphony
DENVER, CO – Brett Mitchell has been named Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, beginning in the 2017-18 season. Prior to this four-year appointment, he will serve as Music Director Designate during the 2016-17 season. For more information, please see the official press release from the Colorado Symphony and the following media coverage:
- The Plain Dealer: "Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Brett Mitchell scores top post at Colorado Symphony"
- The Denver Post: "Colorado Symphony targeting younger audiences with new music director"
- Colorado Public Radio: "Colorado Symphony introduces new music director Brett Mitchell"
- Cleveland Classical: "Brett Mitchell to take the helm of the Colorado Symphony"
- Denver Business Journal: "As season opens, Colorado Symphony's next music director looks ahead"
- Colorado Public Radio: "Brett Mitchell on becoming the Colorado Symphony's next Music Director"
- Slipped Disc: "Cleveland aide becomes music director"
- Denver Business Journal: "Colorado Symphony posts first budget surplus in 26 seasons, hires new music director"
- Musical America Worldwide: "Cleveland O Associate Conductor to Colorado" (subscription required)
- The Classical Arts: "Cleveland Orchestra's Brett Mitchell named music director for Colorado Symphony"
- The Violin Channel: "Colorado Symphony announce new music director"
- Pizzicato: "Colorado Symphony announces budget surplus and new music director"
Brett Mitchell to perform in The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence: Cleveland Edition
On Sunday, September 25, Brett Mitchell will perform in The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence. Mr. Mitchell will accompany several selections at the piano as part of the Cleveland edition of this nationwide event. More information from the official press release:
On September 25, artists and activists from coast to coast will band together for The Concert Across America to End Gun Violence with a series of live concerts brought together by social media. Our purpose is to use music to honor and remember the victims of gun violence, and to bring heightened visibility to this serious problem.
In Cleveland, a FREE concert will be held at U.S. Bank Plaza in Playhouse Square. Classically trained musicians will share selections on the themes of peace, remembrance, and non-violence.
For additional information, please see the nationwide homepage or the Cleveland event page.