NEWS
Brett Mitchell named Artistic Director and Conductor of Sunriver Music Festival
Brett Mitchell has been named Artistic Director and Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival, beginning a three-year term in August 2022. (Photo by Jeff Nelson)
SUNRIVER, Ore. — The Sunriver Music Festival has announced that Brett Mitchell will serve as its next Artistic Director and Conductor, beginning a three-year term in August 2022.
In this role, Mr. Mitchell will lead the Festival Orchestra each summer in four classical concerts, a family program, and a pops concert.
The Festival was founded in 1978, and Mr. Mitchell is the fourth Artistic Director and Conductor in the organization’s 44-year history.
From the official press release:
“We don’t name orchestras after conductors. We name them after communities,“ explains Maestro Mitchell. “That’s because festivals reflect their communities. I am thrilled that I will be able to make a contribution to this festival that has been a part of the Central Oregon community for 44 years.”
Mitchell has accepted a 3-year contract with Sunriver Music Festival which includes a commitment for quarterly visits to the region for ongoing connection with the community and the Festival’s thriving music education programs.
Mr. Mitchell previously led the Orchestra in two programs on August 21 and 23 during the Festival’s 2021 season:
COPLAND - Music for Movies
MOZART - Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor
Daniel Hsu, piano
STRAVINSKY - Suite from Pulcinella
JESSIE MONTGOMERY - Starburst
SAINT-SAËNS - Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor
Amit Peled, cello
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 7 in A Major
On August 18, Mr. Mitchell also played an evening of John Williams’s chamber music from the piano with musicians from the Festival, including music from Fiddler on the Roof, The Terminal, Memoirs of a Geisha, Lincoln, and Schindler’s List.
The official press release points to the importance of the feedback about these performances from the Festival’s musicians and audiences when selecting Mr. Mitchell as their next Artistic Director:
The Festival’s Board of Trustees received hundreds of helpful evaluations submitted by patrons and musicians. Here's just a sampling:
"Brett Mitchell is a high-level conductor with very good conducting technique, rehearsal technique, big personality, very good. Keeping interest and energy levels high are Maestro Mitchell's strongest qualities as a conductor, and he has many more."
"Brett Mitchell is an effective musical leader. His conducting was very clear and did not get in the way of our ability to concentrate. Players were led by someone who understands what conducting is about and who therefore makes our task easier. He is extremely musical, gives excellent cues, is great with the audience and has a very polished approach."
For more information on Mr. Mitchell’s appointment, please view the announcement and press release on the Sunriver Music Festival’s website.
KTVZ News Channel 21 (NBC’s affiliate in Bend) has published a piece about Mr. Mitchell’s appointment: “Patrons, musicians help select Mitchell as new maestro for Sunriver Music Festival.”
Dates for Mr. Mitchell’s inaugural season as Artistic Director and Conductor in August 2022 will be announced in Fall 2021.
Pasadena Symphony names Brett Mitchell as Artistic Partner for 2021-22 season
Brett Mitchell has been named an Artistic Partner for the Pasadena Symphony’s 2021-22 season.
PASADENA — The Pasadena Symphony has announced that Brett Mitchell has been named an Artistic Partner for their 2021-22 concert season. In this role, he will lead the orchestra in a pair of subscription performances on March 19, 2022, featuring the following program:
ADAM SCHOENBERG - Finding Rothko
GRIEG - Piano Concerto
Aldo López-Gavilán, piano
MOZART - Symphony No. 40
For more information on Mr. Mitchell’s performances with the orchestra, please click here.
Brett Mitchell to open 2021 Blossom Music Festival with The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in the opening weekend of the 2021 Blossom Music Festival, marking the orchestra’s first public performances since March 2020. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Published April 11, 2021 Updated May 6, 2021
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will lead the opening weekend of the 2021 Blossom Music Festival, marking the orchestra’s first public performances in over a year. The complete program, presented on July 3 and 4, will be as follows:
For more information, please visit the 2021 Blossom Music Festival season announcement, the event page for Mr. Mitchell’s performance with the orchestra, and the following press articles:
Akron.com (May 6): ‘Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Festival to return’
Akron Beacon Journal (May 3): ‘Cleveland Orchestra launches Blossom single ticket sales, announces soloists’
Broadway World (May 3): ‘2021 Blossom Music Festival Individual Tickets on Sale Now’
Akron Beacon Journal (Apr 11): ‘Cleveland Orchestra unveils 2021 Blossom Music Festival season’
Cleveland.com (Apr 11): ‘Cleveland Orchestra to perform at least 11 concerts with live audiences this summer at Blossom Music Center’
WCPN (Apr 11): ‘Full Cleveland Orchestra And Audience Return To Blossom In July’
Broadway World (Apr 11): ‘The Cleveland Orchestra Announces 2021 Blossom Music Festival’
Cleveland Classical (Apr 12): ‘BLOSSOM 2021’
Cleveland 19 News (Apr 12): ‘Cleveland Orchestra to hold Blossom Music Festival this summer’
Brett Mitchell’s return to River Oaks Chamber Orchestra to feature two world premieres
Mr. Mitchell will lead new works by composers Reena Esmail (L) and Quinn Mason (R) with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra in April 2021.
Published April 28, 2020 Updated April 26, 2021
HOUSTON - Following his debut in February 2019, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to the podium to lead two world premieres on their 2020-21 season finale.
The program will feature the first performance of The History of Red, a co-commission by Reena Esmail based on a text by Chickasaw poet Linda Hogan, with soprano Kathryn Mueller as soloist. Mr. Mitchell will also lead the world premiere of Princesa de la Luna by Quinn Mason.
The complete program:
ERROLLYN WALLEN - Photography
BARBER - Knoxville: Summer of 1915
QUINN MASON - Princesa de la Luna [world premiere]
FALLA - ‘Danse espagnole’ from La vida breve
REENA ESMAIL - The History of Red [world premiere]
SURINACH - Ritmo Jondo: Flamenco for Orchestra (feat. live dance from Solero Flamenco)
The concert will be streamed live on Saturday, April 24, 2021, from The Church of St. John the Divine in Houston.
For more information, please visit the event page, and read the following previews:
Houston Chronicle: ROCO sees ‘Red’ with Reena Esmail composition this weekend
Houstonia: Meet Quinn Mason, the Up-and-Coming Composer Coming to Houston
Houston Press: Best Virtual Bets
Mr. Mitchell previews the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra’s 16th season finale: ‘Flamenco.’
Mr. Mitchell and soprano Kathryn Mueller offer a sneak peek of Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.
Brett Mitchell to lead The Cleveland Orchestra's 2021 holiday festival
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2021 Holiday Concerts in Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to lead their 2021 Holiday Concerts, a series of a dozen performances running from Thursday, December 9 through Sunday, December 19.
Repertoire and guest artists will be announced in fall 2021, but tickets are on sale now.
For more information, please visit clevelandorchestra.com/holiday.
Brett Mitchell returns to the San Antonio Symphony in 2021-22 season
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Symphony has announced its 2021-22 performance season, with Brett Mitchell returning to lead a program of works by Missy Mazzoli, Tchaikovsky, and Ravel on November 5 and 6, 2021. The complete program will be:
MISSY MAZZOLI - Holy Roller
TCHAIKOVSKY - Violin Concerto
Angelo Xiang Yu, violin
RAVEL - Valses nobles et sentimentales
RAVEL - La valse
For more information, please view the San Antonio Symphony’s season announcement and these stories in the San Antonio Express-News (subscription required) and the San Antonio Report.
Brett Mitchell to step down from Colorado Symphony after five seasons as artistic leader
Brett Mitchell will step down as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony on June 30, 2021. (Photo by Amanda Tipton)
Published Jan 29, 2021 Updated Feb 9, 2021
DENVER — After five seasons at the artistic helm of the Colorado Symphony, Brett Mitchell will step down from his post on June 30, 2021. Mr. Mitchell has served as Music Director since the 2017-18 season, and previously served as Music Director Designate during the 2016-17 season.
From the official press release from the Colorado Symphony:
During Mitchell’s five-season tenure, he is credited with deepening the orchestra’s engagement with its audience via in-depth demonstrations from both the podium and the piano. He also expanded the orchestra’s commitment to contemporary American repertoire—with a particular focus on the music of Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli, and Kevin Puts—through world premieres, recording projects, and commissions. In addition, Mitchell spearheaded collaborations with such local partners as Colorado Ballet, Denver Young Artists Orchestra, and El Sistema Colorado. The cancellation of the 2020/21 season, due to the COVID-19 health pandemic, halted the progress of other collaborations and recordings previously planned under Mitchell’s direction.
“The Colorado Symphony is grateful for Brett Mitchell's contributions the past five seasons and is excited to enter an unprecedented period of discovery in artistic leadership in the organization's nearly 100-year story,” said Jerome H. Kern, Chief Executive Officer & Board Chair for the Colorado Symphony. “We will look forward to seeing Maestro Mitchell on the podium again in future seasons…”
In The Denver Post’s announcement of his departure, critic-at-large John Wenzel writes that “Mitchell has been a bright and engaging presence over the years, delving into the history of certain well-worn pieces while leading expert renditions of them.”
Video: Cleveland Orchestra musicians join Brett Mitchell for 80th-anniversary performance of Copland's 'Quiet City'
Robert Walters (English horn), Brett Mitchell (piano), and Michael Sachs (trumpet) perform Aaron Copland’s ‘Quiet City.’
DENVER — Cleveland Orchestra principal trumpet Michael Sachs and solo English horn Robert Walters join Brett Mitchell for a long-distance performance of Aaron Copland's Quiet City, recorded to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the piece's premiere on January 28, 1941.
Mr. Mitchell worked with Mr. Sachs and Mr. Walters from 2013 to 2017 while serving on the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra, where Mr. Sachs has been principal trumpet since 1988 and Mr. Walters has been solo English horn since 2004.
Mr. Mitchell recorded his portion of this video in Denver, Colorado, on January 8. Mr. Walters and Mr. Sachs recorded their portions in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 15 and 19, respectively.
Enjoy the complete performance below, or watch on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Brett Mitchell to lead San Antonio Symphony's 2020-21 season finale
Published Nov 20, 2020 Updated Jan 9, 2021
SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Symphony announced today details of new plans for its 2020-21 performance season, with Brett Mitchell returning to lead its season finale in June 2021.
The [San Antonio Symphony] will offer socially distanced in-person concerts beginning in February 2021. Plans will be announced for new streaming attendance options in the coming weeks. All performances will be held at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.
“We have an incredible season of music that we’re extremely proud to share with our community. The safety of our audiences, musicians, and staff remain our top priority. We’ve reprogramed our concert offerings to meet the guidelines set forth by both local government and health professionals,” said Corey Cowart, Executive Director. “We look forward to welcoming our patrons back to the hall this February, both in-person and virtually. All of us here at the Symphony are excited to return to serving our community through music.”
The SAS and Tobin Center for the Performing Arts are implementing additional safety measures for in-person attendance, including increased sanitizing of high-touch surfaces, easy access to hand-sanitizing stations, enforcement of social-distancing guidelines, use of masks, touch-less ticketing, temperature checks, and special audience-routing throughout the Tobin Center.
Mr. Mitchell was scheduled to lead a subscription program of works by Missy Mazzoli, Mozart, Prokofiev, and Ravel with the orchestra on March 13 and 14, 2020, but the performances were canceled after the dress rehearsal due to COVID-19.
Mr. Mitchell will now lead the final subscription program of the orchestra’s 2020-21 season, presented on Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, 2021. The program will be:
HONEGGER - Pastorale d’été
PIAZZOLLA - Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Sarah Silver Manzke, violin (Associate Concertmaster of the San Antonio Symphony)
MOZART - Symphony No. 29
For more information, please view the San Antonio Symphony’s season announcement, and visit the event page for Mr. Mitchell’s performances with the orchestra.
Update: COVID-19 cancellations
Published March 13, 2020 Updated January 9, 2021
Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, all of Brett Mitchell’s performances from March 13 through October 4, 2020, were canceled.
Mr. Mitchell returned to the podium for his subscription debut of four performances with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra from October 30 through November 1, 2020, but the remainder of his 2020 performances have been canceled.
The Colorado Symphony—of which Mr. Mitchell serves as Music Director—has canceled all performances through May 31, 2021.
The following list of canceled performances—totaling 53 as of January 9, 2021—will be updated as further information becomes available.
March 13 and 14, 2020
SAN ANTONIO SYMPHONY
MISSY MAZZOLI - Holy Roller
MOZART - Symphony No. 29 in A major, K. 201
PROKOFIEV - Violin Concerto No. 2 (Angelo Xiang Yu, violin)
RAVEL - Rapsodie espagnole
March 27, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
ADAM SCHOENBERG - Finding Rothko
RACHMANINOFF - Isle of the Dead
BEETHOVEN - String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135
JAMES CLARKE - Symphony No. 2 [WORLD PREMIERE]
March 28 and 29, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
Disney FANTASIA - Live in Concert
May 1, 2, and 3, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
MAHLER - Symphony No. 9
May 16, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
LAMONT JAZZ ORCHESTRA
STILL - Festive Overture
BERNSTEIN - Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
ELLINGTON - Harlem
May 22, 23, and 24, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY & CHORUS
SAINT-SAËNS - “Bacchanale” from Samson et Dalila
MASON BATES - Children of Adam: Songs of Creation
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 3, “Eroica"
July 11, 2020
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
BERNSTEIN - Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety” (Kirill Gerstein, piano)
COPLAND - Suite from Appalachian Spring
COPLAND - Suite from Billy the Kid
July 26, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
SHOSTAKOVICH - Festive Overture
LISZT - Les Préludes
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 9
This performance has been rescheduled for July 25, 2021.
August 20, 2020
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC
MOZART - Amadeus
(Complete film with live orchestral accompaniment)
September 8 and 9, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
BEETHOVEN - Coriolan Overture
BEETHOVEN - Violin Concerto (Paul Huang, violin)
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 5
September 18, 19, and 20, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
KORNGOLD - Sursum Corda (Lift Up Your Hearts)
R. STRAUSS - Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
BEETHOVEN - Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (Olga Kern, piano)
October 2, 3, and 4, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
KEVIN PUTS - …this noble company
ELGAR - Cello Concerto (Joshua Roman, cello)
SHOSTAKOVICH - Symphony No. 5
November 20, 21, and 22, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
HINDEMITH - Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Weber
RACHMANINOFF - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Joyce Yang, piano)
TCHAIKOVSKY - Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian”
December 10-23, 2020
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
TRADITIONAL (arr. Anderson) - “Wassail Song” from Suite of Carols
TCHAIKOVSKY (arr. Ferrari) - Selections from The Nutcracker
TRADITIONAL (arr. Kay/Lavender) - Deck the Hall
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (arr. Greaves) - Fantasia on “Greensleeves”
TRADITIONAL (arr. Mairs) - Holly and the Good King
BERLIN (arr. Jackfert) - White Christmas [world premiere]
ANDERSON (arr. Caputo) - Sleigh Ride
Mr. Mitchell was also to lead a jazz trio from the piano to accompany Broadway star Capathia Jenkins:
CAHN/STYNE - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
FOSTER/THOMPSON-JENNER - Grown-Up Christmas List
COOTS/GILLESPIE - Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town
December 31, 2020
COLORADO SYMPHONY
A Night in Vienna - New Year’s Eve
March 20, 2021
PASADENA SYMPHONY
ADAM SCHOENBERG - Finding Rothko
GRIEG - Piano Concerto (Andrew Tyson, piano)
MOZART - Symphony No. 40
April 9, 10, and 11, 2021
COLORADO SYMPHONY & CHORUS
WAGNER - “Good Friday Music” from Parsifal
MASON BATES - Resurrexit
BRAHMS - A German Requiem
Anna Christy, soprano | John Brancy, baritone
April 30, May 1 and 2, 2021
COLORADO SYMPHONY
RAVEL - Noble and Sentimental Waltzes
PROKOFIEV - Violin Concerto No. 2 (Stefan Jackiw, violin)
STRAVINSKY - Petrushka
May 28, 29, and 30, 2021
COLORADO SYMPHONY & CHORUS
MAHLER - Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection”
Felicia Moore, soprano | Susan Platts, alto
Venue change for Brett Mitchell's Fort Worth Symphony debut
FORT WORTH — Due to the newly extended closure of Bass Performance Hall, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra has announced that their fall subscription series will now take place at Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium. The dates of Mr. Mitchell’s debut with the orchestra remain October 30-November 1, 2020, and the repertoire is unchanged:
BERNSTEIN - Serenade
Karen Gomyo, violin
MOZART - Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
For more information, please visit the news release and event page on the Fort Worth Symphony’s website, or view the following stories:
CBS DFW: “Same Start Date, Different Location For Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s Fall Symphonic Series”
FOX 4 KDFW: “FWSO moves concerts to Will Rogers Memorial Auditorium”
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Fort Worth Symphony shifts concerts to Will Rogers after Bass Hall postpones reopening”
Fort Worth Magazine: “Bass Hall to Remain Closed Through December, Moving Symphony Concerts”
Broadway World: ”Bass Hall Management Decides to Extend Closure; Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra's Fall Symphonic Series Moved”
Brett Mitchell's North Carolina Symphony debut to proceed with revised program
Brett Mitchell’s subscription debut with the North Carolina Symphony in May 2021 has been revised to include Joan Tower’s Chamber Dance and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Symphony has announced that Brett Mitchell’s previously announced debut with the orchestra will proceed as scheduled on May 14 and 15, 2021, but with an altered program due to COVID restrictions. The revised, no-intermission program will be:
JOAN TOWER - Chamber Dance
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 5
These performances will be available both in-person and via online streaming.
For more information, please click here.
Brett Mitchell returns to Spain with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias
Brett Mitchell leads the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias at the Jovellanos Theater in Gijón, Spain in May 2019.
OVIEDO, Spain — Following his successful debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in May 2019, the orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to the podium during their Fall 2020 season, SERONDA.
Mr. Mitchell will lead a subscription program on December 3 and 4, 2020, featuring Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Gershwin’s Concerto in F with pianist Lise de la Salle.
For more information, please click here.
Brett Mitchell's Fort Worth Symphony debut to proceed with revised program
Brett Mitchell’s subscription debut with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will proceed as scheduled with revised repertoire, now to include Bernstein’s ‘Serenade’ with violinist Karen Gomyo.
Published July 30, 2020 Updated August 5, 2020
FORT WORTH — Several news outlets have published stories about the Fort Worth Symphony’s updated 2020-2021 season, which includes Brett Mitchell’s subscription debut in October, marking his first performances since the COVID-19 outbreak.
From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Fort Worth Symphony to resume live performances for upcoming season amid COVID-19”:
Live concerts by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) and guest performers will be back for this upcoming season, but with a few changes due to COVID-19.
Audience capacity will be significantly reduced to allow for social distancing…
There will be also a fourth Saturday matinee performance added to the Symphonic Series, which will remain at Bass Performance Hall.
All audience members will be required to wear a mask throughout the entirety of each concert and will not be able to enter any venue without one.
FWSO explained that there won’t be any intermissions or concessions, the concert programs will be distributed to patrons electronically, there will be hand sanitizing stations at every venue and the seating arrangements for every performance will allow for social distancing…
FWSO officials also told the Star-Telegram via email that “all patrons must fill out a COVID-19 health questionnaire prior to attending concert to ensure the safety of all guests, musicians and staff.”
For this upcoming season, there will only be 40 musicians on stage for performances at Bass Hall…
All strings, percussion and keyboardists will wear masks at all times, even during performances. Woodwinds and brass performers will have Plexiglas shields and will wear a mask when they are not playing.
From the Fort Worth Business Press, “Fort Worth Symphony announces live performances for 2020-2021 season”:
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) announced it will be performing live as planned this fall, but with a modified schedule and reduced audience capacity based on venue restrictions…
The symphony said in a news release that the organization has worked closely with venues and government health officials to ensure its live performances are safe for patrons, musicians, and staff.
“We recognize that the COVID-19 pandemic is still here in Texas, unfortunately, which is why we modified our schedule to insure our patrons are safe and socially-distant while experiencing the power of live music,” says Keith Cerny, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
From D Magazine, “North Texas symphonies announce altered fall seasons”:
The Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra have announced reimagined fall 2020 seasons in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both orchestras will be back on stage and performing for live audiences in September, but seeing a symphony this fall will be a bit more complicated than it was pre-COVID. We’re looking at reduced capacities in the concert halls; smaller, distanced orchestral ensembles; and fewer performances. Even in the midst of a global crisis, the show goes on…
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will also be returning in September with a modified schedule and reduced audience capacity. Adhering to social distancing guidelines and current government mandates, Bass Performance Hall will allow up to 500 patrons at concerts throughout the 2020-2021 season.
The program for Mr. Mitchell’s debut with the orchestra—proceeding as scheduled from October 30 through November 1—has been revised as follows:
BERNSTEIN - Serenade after Plato’s “Symposium”
Karen Gomyo, violin
MOZART - Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”
For more information, please click here.
Brett Mitchell to offer live commentary, Q&A during rebroadcast of River Oaks Chamber Orchestra concert
HOUSTON — The River Oaks Chamber Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell and several other musicians will offer live commentary and Q&A during a rebroadcast of their program, “Ticket to Ride,” on Sunday, April 5 at 2 p.m. CDT on Facebook Live. The complete program, recorded live in February 2019 at St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Houston, features the following works:
SMYTH - Overture from The Wreckers
KILAR - Orawa
SAINT-SAËNS - Cello Concerto No. 1
Richard Belcher, cello
—INTERMISSION—
TOCH - Geographical Fugue
JAMES STEPHENSON - ROCOmotive [WORLD PREMIERE]
MOZART - Symphony No. 35, "Haffner"
To watch this livestream, please click here.
COVID-19 update: Colorado Symphony plays on
The Colorado Symphony has launched several initiatives to continue bringing music to its audience throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, including the newly announced Virtual Music Hour.
DENVER — Following the postponement of the Colorado Symphony’s concert activity through May 11, Brett Mitchell has filmed several messages to introduce its audience to new initiatives aimed at continuing to bring music to their audience throughout the COVID-19 outbreak.
The first video previews a series of solo and ensemble performances taped in Colorado Symphony musicians’ homes, shared via online video. “Just because we’re not together in Boettcher Concert Hall doesn’t mean the music has stopped.”
Watch the full message below:
On Thursday, April 2, Mr. Mitchell announced a second series, Virtual Music Hour, in which select large-scale works from previous seasons will be streamed each weekend on the Colorado Symphony’s website. He also announced the work to be streamed during the series’s first weekend (Apr. 3-5): Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
We begin this new series with one of the most uplifting, joyous pieces ever composed: Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, the so-called “Apotheosis of the Dance.”
If anyone understood the struggle of self-distancing and isolation — something we’ve all learned a little more about over the past few weeks — it was Beethoven. When he was barely 30 years old, he wrote a heartbreaking letter to his brothers, saying that because of his ever-worsening hearing loss, "I was compelled early to isolate myself, to live in loneliness."
And yet, a decade later, even as his hearing continued to decline, and solitude became the rule rather than the exception, Beethoven showed us with this Seventh Symphony that no matter how dark things may seem, there is always hope, always the possibility of joy. And if there was hope for Beethoven, there is hope for all of us.
How grateful we can be to Beethoven for a reminder like that in times like these.
Watch the complete announcement below:
Brett Mitchell returns to the Blossom Music Festival with The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will return to The Cleveland Orchestra to lead a program of Bernstein and Copland at the Blossom Music Festival in July 2020. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to the Blossom Music Festival to lead the orchestra in a program of Bernstein and Copland during its 2020 summer season:
From conducting legends like Herbert Blomstedt and Edo de Waart, to long-welcomed members of The Cleveland Orchestra’s family like Jahja Ling and Brett Mitchell, audiences can expect terrific classical music played at the highest possible level….
The concert on July 11 sees the return of former Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Brett Mitchell—now music director of the Colorado Symphony—leading the Orchestra in Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 (“The Age of Anxiety”) with virtuosic pianist Kirill Gerstein. The program closes with music by Aaron Copland, including a suite from his evocative and enduring Appalachian Spring.
The complete program will be:
BERNSTEIN - Symphony No. 2, “The Age of Anxiety”
Kirill Gerstein, piano
COPLAND - Suite from Appalachian Spring
COPLAND - Suite from Billy the Kid
For more information, please visit the news release and event page on The Cleveland Orchestra’s website, or read these articles in The Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, and Broadway World.
Brett Mitchell with The The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Colorado Symphony announces its 2020-21 season, Brett Mitchell's fourth as Music Director
DENVER — The Colorado Symphony has announced its 2020-21 season, which marks Brett Mitchell's fourth as Music Director. Over the course of the season, Mr. Mitchell will lead the orchestra in half a dozen subscription weeks and a number of other special projects.
Highlights of Mr. Mitchell's fourth season as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony include:
Sep 18-20: Korngold’s Sursum Corda, R. Strauss’s Suite from Der Rosenkavalier, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (more info)
Oct 2-4: Kevin Puts’s …this noble company, Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 (more info)
Nov 20-22: Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis, Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2, “Little Russian” (more info)
Apr 9-11: Wagner’s “Good Friday Music” from Parsifal, Mason Bates’s Resurrexit, and Brahms’s A German Requiem (more info)
Apr 30-May 2: Ravel’s Noble and Sentimental Waltzes, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, and Stravinsky’s Petrushka (more info)
May 28-30: Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” (more info)
Mr. Mitchell will collaborate with the following soloists during the Colorado Symphony's 2018-19 season:
Paul Huang plays Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
Olga Kern plays Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
Joshua Roman plays Elgar’s Cello Concerto
Joyce Yang plays Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Anna Christy and John Brancy sing Brahms’s A German Requiem
Stefan Jackiw plays Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2
Felicia Moore and Susan Platts sing Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection.”
Mr. Mitchell will lead several other special programs throughout the season, including:
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (complete film with John Williams's score performed live)
To learn more, please read these articles in Westword and The Denver Post, or visit the links below.
Brett Mitchell returns to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Brett Mitchell will return to the Hollywood Bowl for the second consecutive season to lead the music of Mozart with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
LOS ANGELES — Following his successful debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in September 2019, the orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to the Hollywood Bowl in August 2020 for the second consecutive season.
On Thursday, August 20, Mr. Mitchell will lead the LA Phil and Pacific Chorale in the immortal music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to accompany a screening of the 1984 classic film Amadeus.
For more information, please visit the event page on the Hollywood Bowl’s website, or read these articles in Broadway World and The Press-Enterprise.
Brett Mitchell to debut with the North Carolina Symphony in 2020-21
Brett Mitchell will make his subscription debut with the North Carolina Symphony in May 2021 with a program featuring works of Copland, Jennifer Higdon, and Mussorgsky.
RALEIGH — The North Carolina Symphony has announced that Brett Mitchell will make his subscription debut with the orchestra at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh on May 14 and 15, 2021. The program will be:
COPLAND - Appalachian Spring
JENNIFER HIGDON - Percussion Concerto
Colin Currie, percussion
MUSSORGSKY (arr. Ravel) - Pictures at an Exhibition
There will also be an abbreviated performance featuring only Appalachian Spring and selections from Pictures at an Exhibition on Friday, May 14 at 12 p.m.
To learn more, please click here.
To read an article about the North Carolina Symphony’s 2020-21 season on Yes! Weekly, please click here.