NEWS
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses his final performances with The Cleveland Orchestra
CLEVELAND — Brett Mitchell joined the "Majic Morning Show" on Majic 105.7 in Cleveland to discuss The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming performances of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. These three performances over Labor Day Weekend mark both the close of the 2017 Blossom Music Festival and Mr. Mitchell's final performances as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Audio: "Special Interview: Former Longhorn conductor Brett Mitchell talks Texas Music Festival"
Photo by Gregg Barckholtz
AUSTIN — Brett Mitchell spoke with KMFA 89.5 (Austin) about his upcoming performances with the Texas Music Festival and his decade of musical experiences in Texas:
Thirty-seven-year-old conductor Brett Mitchell has served as both the assistant and associate conductor of the venerable Cleveland Orchestra for the last four years. Prior to that, he spent six years in Houston where he was the assistant conductor of the Houston Symphony and later, for a brief time, was music director of the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston. Effective next month, he’ll start a new job as music director of the Colorado Symphony. But before Denver, Houston, and Cleveland, Brett Mitchell was a Longhorn. He received both masters and doctorate degrees from UT’s Butler School of Music, where he was a student from 2001 to 2005. Coincidentally, Mitchell also made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in Austin when they were here on tour back in 2014.
Mitchell returns to Texas this month for a week-long residency with the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston. He’ll conduct Elgar, Shostakovich, and Salonen in two concerts. Rideshare host Chris Johnson called him last week to catch up while he was in Florida for a residency with the Sarasota Music Festival.
"Star Wars: The Score Awakens" wins Best Documentary
CLEVELAND — 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.
Audio: "Brett Mitchell's final concert with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra"
Brett Mitchell and COYO musician Catharine Baek at the WCLV studios on Wednesday, May 10. (Photo by Mark Satola)
CLEVELAND — Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV's Bill O'Connell about the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's upcoming 2016-17 season finale, which also marks Mr. Mitchell's final performance as the ensemble's Music Director. Mr. Mitchell was joined in the interview by COYO member Catharine Baek, who won the orchestra's annual concerto competition, and will perform Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major on the concert, presented on Friday, May 12 at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Baek also spoke with WCLV's Mark Satola in an interview that will air during the intermission of Friday's concert. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: ‘Brett Mitchell reflects on his time in Cleveland’
Brett Mitchell speaks with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell on this week's episode of WVIZ/PBS's ‘Applause.’
CLEVELAND — This week's episode of Applause, a local arts magazine produced by WVIZ/PBS in Cleveland, features a story about Brett Mitchell's four seasons with The Cleveland Orchestra and his upcoming tenure with the Colorado Symphony, and includes a sit-down interview with Mr. Mitchell and WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell. To hear the audio, please click here.
Audio Feature: "From Beethoven to Prince: New Colorado Symphony director hooked on classics"
Conductor Brett Mitchell is the new Colorado Symphony music director. (Photo by Peter Lockley)
KUNC Public Radio has published a feature about Brett Mitchell's upcoming tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
At 37, Brett Mitchell is one of the youngest music directors in the Colorado Symphony’s history. He’s tied with Marin Alsop, who led the symphony from 1993 to 2005. But Mitchell is walking into a better situation than Alsop: the symphony’s first budget surplus in its 28 years.
So there’s a little pressure to make his upcoming debut season stand out.
Mitchell’s response: Challenge accepted.
“I think we’re in the business of taking risks,” said Mitchell, who is currently wrapping up contracts as the associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.
That’s why for the Colorado Symphony’s 2017-2018 season Mitchell’s youth is perhaps showing.... For his season debut in September, he’s pairing Beethoven’s classic Symphony No. 5 with works by two living composers, including composer-by-day/electronica-artist-by-night Mason Bates.
“Part of the way that we keep audiences and donors and sponsors engaged is by showing them that we’re not becoming ossified,” he said. “We’re not set in our ways. We are taking risks.”
Interview Highlights With Brett Mitchell
On His Non-traditional Musical Inspirations
“I started playing piano when I was a kid but I wasn’t playing Mozart, I was playing Billy Joel and Barry Manilow and Elton John and Simon & Garfunkel and Beatles and all of that. Because what I grew up listening to -- at least up until high school -- was the pop music that my parents listened to (…) So I tend to be, I think more than your average conductor let’s say, I tend to be a little more understanding of people for whom going to an orchestral concert is a foreign experience. It can feel very daunting. It can feel very intimidating.”
On The Next Big Thing For Symphonies
“I think you’re going to start seeing more kind of mixed media performances like (film and video game soundtracks) without so much emphasis on: come to the concert hall, sit down, conductor comes out, bows, turns around, conducts the orchestra, turns back around, bows, leaves, everybody gets up and leaves the theater. I think it’s going to become a much more interactive experience, and I for one look forward to that.”
To read the complete feature and listen to Mr. Mitchell's interview, please click here.
Feature: "Brett Mitchell reflects on his time in Cleveland"
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
CLEVELAND — Brett Mitchell recently spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about his four-season tenure with The Cleveland Orchestra, which concludes in September 2017 when Mr. Mitchell assumes the post of Music Director of the Colorado Symphony. To listen to this feature, please click here.
Audio: "CIM Live Intermission: Brett Mitchell"
Photo by Peter Lockley
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV's Mark Satola during the intermission of the live broadcast of his performance last Wednesday with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell previews upcoming Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra concert
Brett Mitchell leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in performance at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV's Bill O'Connell about the next concert in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 season, presented on Sunday, February 19 at Severance Hall:
In its annual collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra opens this concert with a new piece by American composer Mason Bates [Sea-Blue Circuitry]. The remainder of the program features two French works—lush and beautiful—with the women of chorus singing in Claude Debussy's Nocturnes and the full chorus (and soprano soloist) joining in for Francis Poulenc's passionate and effervescent Gloria.
To hear this interview, please click here.
Year in review: "The Colorado Symphony finds its next maestro"
Brett Mitchell, who will become music director of the Colorado Symphony in 2017, leading the Cleveland Orchestra in concert. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Colorado Public Radio has listed Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony as the top classical music story of 2016:
The next music director of the Colorado Symphony is in his mid-30s, comes from the Cleveland Orchestra and fell in love with orchestral music partly because of John Williams’ film scores. Brett Mitchell will lead the symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall for [four] years beginning in September 2017. He replaces Andrew Litton, who left the symphony to take the helm of the New York City Ballet. Get to know Mitchell through our in-depth interview.
Also included in this article is an audio retrospective, transcribed below:
Mitchell: Even the very best orchestras and the very best conductors, sometimes when they get together, it just doesn't quite gel. But from the very first downbeat of our first rehearsal, the Colorado Symphony and I seemed to just hit it off gangbusters, so I couldn't have been more thrilled to get the call.
Announcer: It was a bit like love at first sight. After the Colorado Symphony announced a reduced role for music director Andrew Litton, the search began for a new music director, and one who would hopefully live in Denver and be here for a long time. Brett Mitchell conducted the orchestra this past summer. It was a concert of season previews for the upcoming season, and that's all it took before everyone gave the partnership a big thumbs-up.
Mitchell: The thing that the Colorado Symphony does so well that I experienced on the performance that we gave together back in July: There were ten little pieces in all of these different styles, and it was just amazing to me how easily the Colorado Symphony was able to shift between the styles of Richard Strauss and then Beethoven and then Brahms, but then also John Williams and Leroy Anderson. There's no weak spot in the Colorado Symphony's repertory, so that means that the kind of dreaming I can do in terms of what we're able to program is just totally unlimited, and that's very exciting to somebody that has as diverse a musical background as I do.
To read the complete article and listen to this retrospective, please click here.
Audio: "Spend the holidays with The Cleveland Orchestra"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Choruses in their 2016 Christmas Concerts. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts, presented from December 10 through 18 at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses "It's a Wonderful Life" with The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Dmitri Tiomkin's score for ‘It's a Wonderful Life’ at Severance Hall on December 8 and 9 as part of its 2016 holiday festival.
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about his performances with The Cleveland Orchestra of Dmitri Tiomkin's score for It's a Wonderful Life on December 8 and 9 at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses "The Nutcracker," "It's a Wonderful Life," and The Cleveland Orchestra's annual holiday festival
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in George Balanchine's production of ‘The Nutcracker’ at the State Theatre in downtown Cleveland from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev)
Brett Mitchell recently spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about his upcoming performances with The Cleveland Orchestra of The Nutcracker (presented with the Pennsylvania Ballet), It's a Wonderful Life, and its annual holiday festival. To hear these interviews, please click here.
Audio: Intermission interview on WCLV
WCLV Classical 104.9 broadcast live the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 season on Friday, Nov. 18. At intermission, Bill O'Connell spoke with COYO Music Director Brett Mitchell. To hear this interview, please click here.
Program
BRIGGS - Fountain of Youth [WORLD PREMIERE, commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra
BRUCKNER - Symphony No. 4 ("Romantic")
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses Bruckner and a world premiere
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV's Bill O'Connell about the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 season, presented on Friday, November 18 at Severance Hall.
On the program will be the world premiere of Roger Briggs's Fountain of Youth and Bruckner's Fourth Symphony.
To listen to the complete interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses John Williams and the Colorado Symphony
Brett Mitchell is featured in the current episode of Comic Book Central, discussing the music of John Williams immediately following his performance of selections from Superman with The Cleveland Orchestra. From his studio at Severance Hall, Mr. Mitchell also speaks about his upcoming appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony.
To listen to or download this episode, please click here; Mr. Mitchell's interview begins at 9:45.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses Cleveland Orchestra's Rotary celebration
Rotarian Mike Johns and associate conductor Brett Mitchell at the WCLV studios on Wednesday, October 19, discussing this weekend's special performance by The Cleveland Orchestra.
CLEVELAND — The Rotary Foundation, founded one hundred years ago by Clevelander Arch Klumph, will be honored with a Cleveland Orchestra concert this Sunday, October 23 at Severance Hall. Before leading the program of Beethoven, Debussy, Chabrier, Liszt, and John Williams, associate conductor Brett Mitchell joined Rotarian Mike Johns to speak with WCLV's Bill O'Connell about the concert. To listen to or download the complete interview, please click here.
Audio: "Brett Mitchell on becoming the Colorado Symphony's next Music Director"
Brett Mitchell, who will become music director of the Colorado Symphony in 2017, leading the Cleveland Orchestra in concert. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Brett Mitchell has given an extensive interview to Colorado Public Radio about his recent appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony:
Conductor Brett Mitchell is the next music director of the Colorado Symphony. The orchestra announced on Sept. 12 that the 37-year-old conductor will take over in 2017 -- though he’ll lead five concerts at Boettcher Concert Hall this season.
Mitchell, who’s currently associate conductor with the Cleveland Orchestra, spoke with CPR Classical’s David Rutherford just two days after the big announcement. He talked about what he’s learned from working with the Cleveland Orchestra, what he hopes to accomplish in his first concerts with the Colorado Symphony and what he remembers about his first conducting gig.
To hear the complete interview, please click here.
Audio + Review: Brett Mitchell and The Cleveland Orchestra perform "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
Brett Mitchell is featured in the current episode of The IndyCast, previewing his performances of Raiders of the Lost Ark with The Cleveland Orchestra that closed the 2016 Blossom Music Festival over Labor Day Weekend.
The program also includes a review of the performance given on Saturday, September 3:
The Cleveland Orchestra, Brett Mitchell - could not ask for a better performance. Spot on. Every punch, every whip crack, every crash, every explosion, every little moment, every little beat - all timed out perfectly.
There’s not much that can recapture the feeling of seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark for the first time, but this...comes awfully close.
To listen to or download this episode, please click here. Mr. Mitchell's interview begins at 1:09:50. The review begins at 1:53:00.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses John Williams with ‘Comic Book Central’
Brett Mitchell is featured in the current episode of Comic Book Central, discussing the music of John Williams in advance of his performances this weekend of Raiders of the Lost Ark with The Cleveland Orchestra. From Comic Book Central:
Indiana Jones and Superman are coming to musical life in Cleveland! On this special bonus episode of Comic Book Central, I sit down with the conductor and the artistic administrator of the Cleveland Orchestra, Brett Mitchell and Ilya Gidalevich, to chat about two action-packed events – Raiders of the Lost Ark: In Concert and Superman at the Symphony!
To listen to or download this episode, please click here.