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Preview: Sunriver conductor Brett Mitchell to play in ‘Maestro at the Piano’ Saturday
Brett Mitchell will present a solo piano recital in Sunriver, Ore. on Saturday, April 11, featuring his original arrangements of iconic works from film score history. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
BEND, Ore. — The Bulletin (Bend) has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming solo piano recital in Sunriver on Saturday, April 11.
Sunriver conductor Brett Mitchell to play in ‘Maestro at the Piano’ Saturday
Mitchell flexes his other chops, arranging tunes from Star Wars, Jurassic Park and other popular films for piano
On Saturday, Central Oregonians will have another chance to see and hear Sunriver Music Festival Artistic Director and Conductor Brett Mitchell — this time around, however, he won’t be on a podium, but rather seated at a piano in his exclusive “The Maestro at the Piano: Music in Film” recital.
For Mitchell, it’s a familiar space in which to ply two major, if lesser known, aspects of his musicality.
“I’ve always been a pianist. I’ve always played the piano,” he said last week by phone from his home in Denver, where he is former conductor of the Colorado Symphony. Today, Mitchell conducts the Pasadena Symphony, as well as Central Oregon’s summertime concert series each August.
But before his career helming orchestras, Mitchell’s piano abilities and ambitions almost took him down a different career path: composition.
“By the time I got into college, I thought I wanted to be a film composer,” Mitchell said. “And the bigger the pieces I started writing, the more likely they were to need a conductor. So I ended up just kind of conducting my own pieces, and then that led to conducting other people’s pieces. But that piano part of things for me has always been really at the forefront for me, even though it hasn’t been at the forefront of how I perform most of the time publicly. I mean, certainly the world knows me as a conductor.”
Musical chairs
Six years ago, courtesy of a pandemic, that work came to an abrupt halt — or a caesura, if you want to put it in classical conducting terms.
“The whole reason that I became a conductor is because I love working with other people. I love working with other musicians,” he said. “And obviously when the pandemic happened, that went away, in large part for a year, year and a half, two years, depending on how you look at it. And I was sitting there here in our house, probably two months into this thing when it became clear that it wasn’t going to be like a two-month deal, but that we were going to all be here for a while.”
This allowed Mitchell to both play the piano and get creative by “flexing (his) arranging chops, arranging chops, taking iconic scores from film music history and arranging them for solo piano,” as he put it in a press release from Sunriver Music Festival.
As is surely true of many a great feat, this one came about after complaining to his spouse.
“I was basically just complaining to my wife saying, ‘I have I have no way to perform right now, because the performing that I do requires other large groups of musicians to all be in the same place together and that’s not able to happen,'” he recalled. “And she said, ‘We’ve got the Steinway. Why don’t you why don’t you go go make music on the Steinway?’ And while that’s a very different experience, what I really found was so fulfilling to me. I had basically left the piano alone in terms of public performance for the better part of 20 years.”
That’s not altogether true; he had performed a recital or two in that time, as well as occasional chamber performances with orchestra members. Otherwise, he’d spent little time playing piano in public for those two decades.
On his home Steinway, “What I was able to do was kind of take all of the parts of me that make me who I am musically, which is primarily an orchestral conductor. I have also conducted an awful lot of films live to picture. That’s something that has gone on now for the better part of 10 or 15 years and I have been a part of that kind of new endeavor. And I have a composition degree, which means I am fully capable of taking an enormous orchestral score and trying to look at it through the lens of the composer and rearrange that music for solo piano.”
Popular YouTube channel
Mitchell performs his arrangements of movie tunes his YouTube channel, which has over 4,500 subscribers. There, you can watch Mitchell perform highly recognizable music from “Gone with the Wind” to “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
By his own assessment, these are “no frills,” three-angle videos — a wide shot, Mitchell’s face and his hands on the keys — the popularity of which “is a surprise to no one more than me,” he said.
“I was really making these projects, these videos because it was something I was interested in doing. It was something that I felt passionately about. It was music that I loved and cared deeply about,” he said. “And as it turns out, a lot of people felt the same way. And I’m, I’m really grateful for that.”
Saturday in Sunriver, the live audience will have an opportunity his YouTube fans do not: To hear Mitchell performing them live. Mitchell’s sorted the nearly 400 videos he’s created over the last several years according to which have the most views in creating Saturday’s program.
“So basically, the top 10 or whatever on my channel are showing up on this recital program,” he said. He’ll also perform his arrangements of Bernard Herrmann’s score for Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” as well as “Adoration of the Magi ” and “Start of Bethlehem” from “Ben-Hur.”
And much like Mitchell’s YouTube channel followers, fans of composer John Williams — the famed and prolific scorer of some of the biggest films of the past 50 years, from “Star Wars” and “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” to “Schindler’s List” — will not be disappointed.
“There are things (that) would divide my channel in terms of the film score part of it into two sections,” Mitchell said. “The first is John Williams. The second is everybody else.” Of the 398 videos on his channel now, 157 of them are John Williams tunes.
“John Williams is certainly my great hero,” Mitchell said. “I would not be here if it were not for John Williams.”
2026 Sunriver Music Festival
Though the recital certainly works as a standalone event, Mitchell said, it also serves as a lead-in to August’s Sunriver Music Festival, which will pay tribute to country’s 250th birthday.
“All of that’s to really lead into the summer festival,” Mitchell said. “We’ve got classical concerts as always during the summer festival. Each one of those will have a piece by a contemporary American composer on it.” The recital is a particularly strong antecedent to the annual Pops Concert, which will be “John Williams and the American Journey” and the annual Family Concert, “Harry Potter and the Instruments of the Orchestra, which will be an all-John Williams program.
Said Mitchell, “I’m really excited to kick off that America 250 celebration with these film score excerpts, because the art of film scoring was born during the American century,” aka the 20th century. “I’m going to talk a lot throughout the program and share behind the scenes stories with the audience, some anecdotes that perhaps they know, but more likely they don’t that will help them listen with new ears.”
Preview: Sunriver Music Festival — The Maestro at the Piano
BEND, Ore. — The Source has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming solo piano recital, presented by the Sunriver Music Festival:
Hailed for the breadth of his work on the podium and at the piano, Maestro Brett Mitchell has carved a unique path in the world of contemporary American classical music. Sunriver Music Festival’s Artistic Director & Conductor will present an exclusive solo piano recital featuring his own arrangements for film in Sunriver on April 11. Visit sunrivermusic.org for tickets to The Maestro at the Piano.
As a conductor, Mitchell currently serves as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony and Artistic Director & Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival. He previously served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of both the Houston Symphony and Orchestre National de France. Working widely as a guest conductor, Mitchell has led the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and principal orchestras spanning the United States and beyond.
As a pianist, Steinway Artist Brett Mitchell has a devoted fanbase of his work at the keyboard. The high standard he has set with artistic and professional achievements makes it most appropriate that Mitchell is formally included on the Steinway Artist roster—a list of the most accomplished and discriminating artists in the world. His exceptionally active YouTube channel @brettmitchellconductor features his original solo piano videos of iconic cues from film history and landmark works from classical, jazz, and pop canons.
“Film music has always been one of my great musical loves. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and we couldn’t present orchestral music, I flexed my arranging chops, taking iconic scores from film music history and arranging them for solo piano. What began as a pandemic diversion has morphed into a continuing passion project that I’m now thrilled to share with more than 15,000 subscribers across my social platforms, and I couldn’t be more pleased as we gear up for Sunriver Music Festival’s “America @ 250” celebrations in August 2026 to share many of these iconic selections with our audience in Central Oregon. The art of film scoring was born during the American century, and I can’t imagine a better way to kick off our celebrations than with an intimate evening featuring some of my favorite music of all time. Please join me on April 11 in Sunriver.” - Artistic Director & Conductor Brett Mitchell
Mark your calendars for April 11 and visit sunrivermusic.org for tickets to Sunriver Music Festival’s exclusive concert The Maestro at the Piano. VIP ticketed guests are welcomed to an intimate post-concert reception offering wine, light fare and unhurried conversation with the maestro in an informal setting.
Click here to read the complete preview, and here to read the official press release from the Sunriver Music Festival.
Alec Baldwin To Narrate Copland’s ‘Lincoln Portrait’ for Pasadena Symphony Season Finale
Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning actor joins America@250 concert celebrating the nation's 250th birthday, while Grammy-nominated pianist Terrence Wilson steps in on Gershwin concerto
PASADENA — The Pasadena Symphony has tapped actor Alec Baldwin to narrate Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait at its season finale concert, America@250, on May 30 at Ambassador Auditorium. The program, led by Music Director Brett Mitchell, celebrates the nation’s semiquincentennial with a survey of American orchestral music spanning the last century.
“I can’t imagine a better way to wrap up our season and celebrate America’s 250th birthday than with these two extraordinary artists performing these two iconic works, and I couldn’t be more excited to share the stage with them both,” Mitchell said.
Baldwin has previously performed Lincoln Portrait with the Philadelphia Orchestra and serves as a board member and radio host of the New York Philharmonic. He follows narrators including Henry Fonda, James Earl Jones, Katharine Hepburn, Vincent Price and Copland himself.
Grammy-nominated pianist Terrence Wilson performs Gershwin’s Concerto in F. Wilson replaces pianist Joyce Yang, who was previously scheduled to perform Jonathan Leshnoff’s Rhapsody on America but is recovering from a temporary injury. The Baltimore Sun has hailed Wilson as “one of the biggest pianistic talents to have emerged in this country in the last 25 years.”
The program opens with John Williams’s Liberty Fanfare and also includes the Suite from Copland’s Appalachian Spring.
Baldwin’s credits include “The Hunt for Red October,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Blue Jasmine” and “30 Rock,” for which he won three Emmy awards, three Golden Globes and seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards — making him the actor with the most SAG Awards of all time.
Click here to read the official press release from the Pasadena Symphony, and here to read a preview from Pasadena Now.
Preview: Pasadena Symphony Takes on Tchaikovsky’s Final Symphony, the Work He Premiered Nine Days Before His Death
Grammy-winning pianist Michelle Cann joins Music Director Brett Mitchell for a program spanning Mozart to a contemporary American premiere
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of the Pasadena Symphony’s upcoming third subscription program of the 2025-26 season:
Tchaikovsky completed six symphonies. The last one, he said, contained his “whole soul.” Nine days after he conducted its premiere in St. Petersburg in October 1893, he was dead.
The Pasadena Symphony will perform that work — Symphony No. 6 in B minor, the “Pathétique” — on Saturday, February 21, at Ambassador Auditorium, with Music Director Brett Mitchell on the podium. The program also features Grammy-winning pianist Michelle Cann in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 and “Beacon,” an orchestral work by University of Colorado Boulder composer Jeffrey Nytch. Performances are at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The concert is part of Mitchell’s second season leading the Pasadena Symphony, a season built around American music in anticipation of the nation’s 250th birthday in 2026. “As we close in on America’s 250th birthday next summer, I’m excited to celebrate the best of American orchestral music, past and present, all season long, pairing new American repertoire with great masterworks of the past,” Mitchell said when he announced the season’s programming, according to a Pasadena Symphony press statement.
Nytch’s “Beacon,” the American work on the February 21 program, was commissioned by the Boulder Chamber and premiered by the Boulder Philharmonic in November 2023. It was written to mark the 75th anniversary of the Boulder Star, a constellation of lights on Flagstaff Mountain that has been illuminated during the holiday season and at times of community crisis. “I immediately had the idea of writing a piece of music to celebrate that,” Nytch said. “Literally by the time I got home, I already knew that the piece was going to be titled ‘Beacon.'” The work opens with brightness, moves into somber reflection, and returns to light — a structure Nytch said was shaped by the Star’s dual role as a holiday symbol and a marker of collective grief.
Cann, the evening’s piano soloist, has become one of the most in-demand concert pianists of her generation, according to her management biography. A leading interpreter of the music of Florence Price, she performed the New York City premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement in 2016 and the Philadelphia premiere with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 2021. Her recording of that concerto with the New York Youth Symphony won a Grammy Award in 2023 for Best Orchestral Performance. In 2025, she won a second Grammy, for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, for “Beyond the Years: Unpublished Songs of Florence Price,” recorded with soprano Karen Slack. She holds the inaugural Eleanor Sokoloff Chair in Piano Studies at the Curtis Institute of Music and is on the piano faculty of the Manhattan School of Music.
In Pasadena, Cann performs Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488, completed in March 1786 while the composer was also finishing his opera “Le nozze di Figaro.” The concerto replaces the oboes found in most Mozart concertos with clarinets, producing a darker, more intimate coloring. Its slow movement, in the rare key of F-sharp minor, is the only movement Mozart ever wrote in that key.
Mitchell, who was named the Pasadena Symphony’s sixth music director in March 2024, previously served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony and Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. In May 2025, he stepped in with less than 24 hours’ notice for his subscription debut with the New York Philharmonic, according to his management biography. “In many ways, joining the Pasadena Symphony as Music Director is really coming full circle for me,” Mitchell said when his appointment was announced. “So many of our musicians are these iconic studio players whose work I’ve known and loved for decades.”
The Pathétique, which anchors the second half of the program, carries biographical weight that few symphonies can match. Tchaikovsky called it his “Passionate Symphony,” from the Russian “patetitcheskaja,” meaning passionate or emotional. The title was mistranslated into French after his death, giving the work its now-familiar name. The symphony’s final movement fades into silence — an ending that, given Tchaikovsky’s death shortly after, has prompted more than a century of debate about the composer’s state of mind.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Brahms, Kodály take center stage with Tulsa Symphony Orchestra’
TULSA – The Claremore Daily Progress has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming subscription program with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra:
The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra will open the new year at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.
Much-in-demand guest conductor Brett Mitchell leads the performance, bringing his broad orchestral experience and distinctive musical insight to the Tulsa stage.
The evening opens with the Brahms favorite "Variations on a Theme" by Haydn, followed by Kodály’s lively "Dances of Galánta," inspired by Hungarian folk tunes and known for its bold rhythms. The evening’s finale showcases Brahms’s radiant "Symphony No. 2 in D major," a piece celebrated for its warmth and melodic beauty.
Brett Mitchell brings a wealth of experience to the performance, having led major orchestras at home and abroad including the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Known for his engaging presence and thoughtful interpretations, Mitchell returns to the Tulsa stage to interpret an engaging program highlighting the artistry and influence of Brahms and Kodály.
“This program brings together two masters of orchestral imagination and structure,” said Ron Predl, executive director of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. “From the elegance of Brahms to the rhythmic vitality of Kodály, audiences can expect an entertaining and moving symphonic experience led by this world-class conductor.”
To read the complete preview, please click here (paywall).
Preview: Pasadena Symphony Emphasizes American Music for 2025–26 Season
Music Director Brett Mitchell stands in front of the Pasadena Symphony’s home of the Ambassador Auditorium. (Photo by Tim Sullens)
PASADENA — San Francisco Classical Voice has published a preview of the Pasadena Symphony’s 2025-26 classical season, Brett Mitchell’s second as Music Director.
In a country as fractured and divided as ours, can a celebration of national pride still sell tickets? The Pasadena Symphony is betting on it.
In anticipation of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the orchestra’s 2025–26 season is loaded with American music. Brett Mitchell’s second season as music director will feature two co-commissions and two West Coast premieres by American composers, plus classics by Copland and Dvorak’s America-inspired “New World Symphony.”
“As we close in on America’s 250th birthday next summer, I’m excited to celebrate the best of American orchestral music, past and present, all season long, pairing new American repertoire with great masterworks of the past,” Mitchell said when announcing the repertoire.
The celebration kicks off on Nov. 8 with “Tour de Force,” a piece by Jim Self, the orchestra’s principal tuba. The performance marks his 50th anniversary with the ensemble. The opening concert will also feature two French masterpieces, Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” and the Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major with soloist Orion Weiss.
Edgar Meyer’s 1999 violin concerto, which incorporates bluegrass elements, will follow on Jan. 24 with Tessa Lark as soloist. It will be surrounded by two favorites by Felix Mendelssohn: his concert overture “The Hebrides” and his Symphony No. 3, also known as the “Scottish.”
Another American work, “Beacon” by Colorado-based composer Jeffrey Nytch, will be presented on Feb. 21. The concert is also set to feature Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23, with soloist Michelle Cann.
The Mar. 21 concerts will feature a Pasadena Symphony co-commission: the First Symphony of Mexican American composer Juan Pablo Conteras. According to the orchestra, the work is inspired by “his journey to becoming a composer and a U.S. citizen.”
The West Coast premiere of American composer Jennifer Higdon’s Cello Concerto highlights the Apr. 25 concerts with Julian Schwarz as soloist. The program also features Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony and the “Heroic Overture” of Dallas-based composer Quinn Mason.
The season concludes with another co-commission and West Coast premiere: the “Rhapsody on ‘America’” by Baltimore-based composer Jonathan Leshnoff, featuring pianist Joyce Yang. The all-American program also features works by John Williams and Aaron Copland.
All concerts will take place at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, with 2 p.m. matinees and evening repeats at 8 p.m. Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Brett Mitchell & the Sunriver Music Festival’
Sunriver, ORE. — Cascade A&E has published a preview of the 2025 Sunriver Music Festival, Brett Mitchell’s fourth season as Artistic Director & Conductor:
The Sunriver Music Festival will be celebrating its 48th season this year in 2025. Leading the show for his fourth consecutive year is Artistic Director and Conductor Brett Mitchell. Mitchell’s career has carried him to stages across the country, from being the music director for the Pasadena Symphony, to his role as conductor in the Nashville Symphony, among many other exploits.
This year, Mitchell plans on taking guests of the Sunriver Music Festival on a journey through time, touring different nations and showcasing their classical music taste to audiences young and old. “First and foremost, I’ve always come at music as a fan. Who couldn’t?” said Mitchell. “Especially when it comes to showcasing music to an audience. If I’m not totally wrapped up in and invested in the experience, how can I expect the audience to be invested?”
Looking at the early inspirations that influenced his taste in music, Mitchell said his first love was Jazz, which his grandparents helped expose him to. Then from his parents, classic artists like Billy Joel, Elton John and Simon and Garfunkel. “The 70s acts were a bit before my time, but it’s what my parents were listening to when I was growing up,” he said.
Then, Mitchell recalls some early classical records and how they stood out from other records in his house because of the names and cover art. Aside from records at home, he recalls cassette tapes in his dad’s car that showed him the beauty of The Nutcracker.
Mitchell has always approached Classical music, like all music, as a fan, following a philosophy that good music is good music, regardless of genre. He explained his choices for the Sunriver Music Festival by comparing his role to a DJ putting together a setlist. “They really are just setlists that I plan out six to nine months in advance because of all the logistics and moving pieces,” Mitchell said. “It really is that similar, in that we’re both trying to put together a list of musical tracks that create a certain emotion or vibe during the concert. It’s about taking that emotion you feel while listening and being able to project that feeling to an audience to take them on a journey.”
The 2025 Summer Festival will feature four classical concerts, one pops concert, a brilliant solo piano recital and a family concert. Featured artists include pianist Stewart Goodyear, cellist Mark Kosower and Festival concertmaster/violinist Yi Zhao. The Festival will also welcome a 2025 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition medalist. Mitchell’s philosophy behind the four classical concerts (A French Soirée, The Classical Tradition, The Leipzig Connection and Vienna Waits for You) are all designed to take guests on a cultural journey, experiencing some quintessential pieces from various cultural hotspots of Classical music.
Mitchell spoke about the difficulty (and the honor) that comes with selecting only a handful of tracks to represent potentially hundreds of years of Classical tradition, but he’s done so with grace. The concerts he has planned provide a taste of different styles and eras from within each region, providing guests with some classical they’ll hum along to, along with newer or lesser-known selections that help showcase the diverse sounds and styles that have influenced each region.
When asked about how to balance music for fans old and new, Mitchell compared his show to a Billy Joel concert. “It’s no different,” he said. “You’re gonna get some classics that the fans love like We Didn’t Start the Fire and Uptown Girl, but you’re also going to get some newer pieces, something that showcases what they’ve been working on recently, or how their sound has evolved.”
Continuing, he said, “Truth be told, old fans and new fans will be able to enjoy all of it. Whether it’s your first time or 100th time, a classic is a classic and music is one of those art forms that everyone can enjoy with almost no experience in the study of it.”
Lastly, Mitchell spoke about the Central Oregon venues that will hold this year’s summer festival; The Tower Theater and Sunriver’s Great Hall. He said that the venue for any show is incredibly important, as, just like with any concert, every part is part of the experience. Aside from the music itself, the venue, the lights, the setting and every other aspect all add to the overall experience. “The Tower Theater is one of these venues that feels intimate but still boasts a decently large audience,” he said, “and after travelling for years and playing in countless concert halls, there really is nothing quite like The Great Hall. I’m very honored to be able to add to the history of these venues and I’m looking forward to seeing them once again.”
Preview: ‘Van Cliburn Winning Pianist Coming to Sunriver’
Brett Mitchell leads the Sunriver Music Festival Orchestra in Sunriver, Ore. (Photo by David Young-Wolff)
BEND, Ore. — Source Weekly has published a preview of the Sunriver Music Festival’s 2025 season, Brett Mitchell’s fourth as Artistic Director & Conductor:
During this year's Sunriver Music Festival, listeners will be treated to amazing performers, diverse compositions and a dynamic, creative driving force behind it all. One of the most thrilling aspects of this year's festival is that a newly awarded medalist from the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition will be announced on June 7, and this performer will subsequently come to Sunriver to play two concerts. Artistic Director and Conductor Brett Mitchell shared his excitement over the 48th season of the festival…
Source Weekly: How did the partnership between the Van Cliburn Piano Competition and the Sunriver Music Festival come about?
Brett Mitchell: The Cliburn connection is something that has been a part of Sunriver Music Festival for longer than I have been. It is always, of course, an enormous event in the classical music world. These pianists come from all over the world, and to have a complete unknown who, seemingly overnight, becomes a household name is amazing. This opportunity that we have in Sunriver to feature one of the medalists, honestly is one of the things that attracted me to this position. The opportunity to work with some of the greatest up-and-coming musicians on the scene is incredible. I'm a musician, period, because I had a great high school band director. I thought that's what I wanted to do, to teach young musicians. And that has been a very big part of my career. When I was the assistant director of the Cleveland Orchestra, I was also the director of the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. So, the opportunity to find these young musicians that the Cliburn has and shine a light on them... and that we in Sunriver are able to bring them to our community, literally two months after they have been awarded a medal, is just amazing. I think it's one of the most exciting things we do.
SW: I imagine it's a bit like choosing a favorite child, but which concert are you personally most excited about this summer?
BM: I love all of these programs. The French program that we open with is going to be a really nice experience. All of the pieces are French, but they couldn't be more different from each other. The Dukas Fanfare is a brass fanfare, which is not something you associate with France. The Ravel Piano Concerto is hugely inspired by George Gershwin and the world of jazz. The Fauré is probably what most folks would consider French music: delicate, beautiful, exquisite. And then, of course, there's Carmen [by Bizet] which is designed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Carmen, which premiered in 1875, and it also marks the 150th anniversary of Bizet's death. And then also the Classical Tradition program, with the Bolcom Commedia, which is such a funny, witty piece. To have Mark Kosower, who is the principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra, come out and do the Rococo Variations of Tchaikovsky... and we know that Tchaikovsky was history's greatest admirer of Mozart, along with about five million of the rest of us! Then to have [Mozart's] Marriage of Figaro on there, it's such a greatest hit of classical music. And then to follow that up with the Stravinsky Dance Concertantes, which is from Stravinsky's neoclassical period... that program I'm really excited about as well. I know you asked for one, but there's two.
SW: Can you talk about your personal journey with music?
BM: When I was growing up in Seattle in the '80s and early '90s when grunge hit, I got to Nirvana before I got to Beethoven. But when I got to Beethoven in high school a few years later, it did not sound so different to me from Nirvana. It was like, here's this guy, or group of guys, and they are clearly going through some stuff... and they are trying to say it artistically to see if it might resonate with the rest of us. And that, I don't care if you are from the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s or today, if you have a universal message, it's worth hearing. Which is why we do what we do.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony to Close Season with Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony’
Music Director Brett Mitchell leads the Pasadena Symphony at the Ambassador Auditorium in October 2024. He will lead the final program of his inaugural season on Saturday, May 3. (Photo by Karen Tapia)
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of the final program of Brett Mitchell’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Pasadena Symphony […] will close out its 2024-2025 season with an afternoon and evening of sweeping romanticism and bucolic serenity as Music Director Brett Mitchell leads a program culminating in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, the “Pastoral,” on Saturday, May 3.
Performances are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Ambassador Auditorium.
The concert marks the conclusion of Mitchell’s inaugural season at the helm of the orchestra, and the repertoire reflects his signature approach: programs that are both emotionally resonant and carefully constructed.
“The program ends with a sense of optimism and joy,” the symphony stated in its season announcement. The concert will open with George Whitefield Chadwick’s “A Pastoral Prelude for Orchestra,” followed by Max Bruch’s beloved “Violin Concerto No. 1,” featuring acclaimed American soloist William Hagen.
Hagen, who performs on a rare 1732 Antonio Stradivari violin on loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation, is known for his virtuosic presence and lyrical sensitivity. He has appeared with major orchestras across North America and Europe, earning praise from critics for performances that are “captivating, floating delicately above the orchestra,” according to Chicago Classical Review.
Mitchell, named Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony in March 2024, is no stranger to major stages. A former music director of the Colorado Symphony and a frequent guest with top-tier American and international ensembles, he has shared the podium with soloists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and Renée Fleming.
Saturday’s program, centered on nature-inspired works, draws a thematic throughline from Chadwick’s turn-of-the-century American romanticism, through Bruch’s dramatic German lyricism, to Beethoven’s ode to the countryside.
Beethoven’s Sixth, subtitled “Pastoral,” is a departure from the composer’s more stormy and structured works. Composed in 1808, it offers a deeply personal reflection of his love for nature, with movements titled “Scene by the Brook” and “Thunderstorm” giving way to the final movement’s sense of peaceful renewal.
Mitchell was appointed Music Director in March last year, signaling a new chapter for Pasadena Symphony.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘In Pasadena today, Mozart’s Turkish delight takes center stage’
Music Director Brett Mitchell (center) will lead the Pasadena Symphony this weekend in music by Adolphus Hailstork (left), and will collaborate with violinist Stefan Jackiw (right) on Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5.
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s subscription concerts with the Pasadena Symphony this weekend:
At first glance, the Pasadena Symphony’s program today might appear conventionally classical: Mozart, Prokofiev, Stravinsky. But beneath this seemingly traditional façade lies a thoughtfully curated journey through musical history—from contemporary reflections on Baroque sensibilities to neoclassical reimaginings—all anchored by Mozart’s inventive Violin Concerto No. 5, the so-called “Turkish.”
Under the baton of Brett Mitchell, who assumed leadership of the Pasadena Symphony in April 2024 (only the sixth music director in the orchestra’s 97-year history), today’s performances at Ambassador Auditorium—at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.—promise to showcase both the ensemble’s evolving artistic vision and violinist Stefan Jackiw’s remarkable interpretive gifts.
The centerpiece, Mozart’s A-major concerto, remains one of the composer’s most intriguing instrumental works. Composed in 1775 when Mozart was just 19, it demonstrates his growing compositional sophistication. The concerto’s nickname derives from its finale, where Mozart dramatically shifts from A major to A minor, introducing what his European contemporaries perceived as exotically “Turkish” elements: unison chromatic crescendos, repetitive phrases, and col legno playing (striking strings with the wood rather than hair of the bow)—techniques that must have seemed thrillingly foreign to 18th-century Salzburg audiences. As music scholar Tchaikovsky noted, this piece represents “the highest, culminating point to which beauty has reached in the sphere of music.”
Jackiw, who began playing violin at age four and debuted professionally with the Boston Pops at 12, brings particular sensitivity to this repertoire. Now 39, the Korean-German American violinist has built a reputation for combining technical brilliance with profound emotional intelligence. “In just a few bars of Mozart, you encounter an entire universe of feeling,” Jackiw once observed about the concerto’s Adagio movement, noting the “huge range of emotions contained in just a few bars” particularly in the slow movement.
Mitchell’s programming reveals curatorial acumen. The concert opens with Adolphus Hailstork’s Baroque Suite, a contemporary work filtering modern compositional techniques through historical forms, before proceeding to Mozart’s concerto with Jackiw as soloist. The program continues with Prokofiev’s impeccably crafted Classical Symphony before concluding with Stravinsky’s Suite from Pulcinella.
As Mitchell’s inaugural season unfolds, today’s concerts offer a compelling glimpse of his artistic vision—one that respects tradition while embracing innovation. Known for his “warm, down-to-earth demeanor” and ability to connect with audiences through insightful musical interpretations
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Welcomes New Music Director with Mozart’s Jupiter and Price Concerto’
Brett Mitchell to lead program featuring 2024 Grammy winner Montgomery's 'Starburst' in January performances (Photo credit: Roger Mastroianni)
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s third subscription weekend as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
The Pasadena Symphony will present its [third weekend of] concerts under newly appointed Music Director Brett Mitchell, featuring Mozart’s final symphony alongside works by Florence Price and Jessie Montgomery, at the Ambassador Auditorium.
Mitchell, who was named to the position in March 2024, will conduct two performances on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., marking the beginning of his five-year term with the orchestra.
The program opens with “Starburst” by Jessie Montgomery, a 2024 Grammy Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose music has been praised by The Washington Post as “turbulent, wildly colorful and exploding with life.”
Montgomery, recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Foundation, creates music that interweaves classical traditions with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, language, and social justice.
Acclaimed pianist Inon Barnatan, described by The New York Times as “one of the most admired pianists of his generation,” will perform Florence Price’s soul-stirring Concerto for Piano in One Movement.
The New Yorker has praised Barnatan’s “uncommon sensitivity,” while Le Figaro celebrated his “impeccable musicality and phrasing.” The Evening Standard characterized him as “a true poet of the keyboard: refined, searching, unfailingly communicative.”
Mitchell, who also serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival, has developed a reputation for presenting engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs.
The performances will conclude with Mozart’s incomparable Symphony No. 41, known as the “Jupiter” symphony, completing a program that promises pure exhilaration in heralding the New Year.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘New Conductor Reimagines Pasadena’s Beloved Holiday Concert While Preserving Cherished Traditions’
Brett Mitchell will lead three performances of the Pasadena Symphony’s annual Holiday Candlelight concert at All Saints Church on Dec. 13 and 14.
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming holiday concerts with the Pasadena Symphony:
In his inaugural year as Music Director of Pasadena Symphony, Brett Mitchell is reshaping one of Southern California’s most anticipated holiday events by blending reverence for tradition with fresh artistic vision.
The Symphony’s annual Holiday Candlelight Concert, scheduled for three performances on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 13 and 14, will transform the historic All Saints Church Pasadena into an intimate musical sanctuary.
“Ambience is everything, so being in this space really transports both the audience and all of us onstage to another place and time,” Mitchell said of the cherished venue.
The architectural constraints of All Saints Church have shaped Mitchell’s approach to the performances, leading him to adapt the orchestra size for the sacred space’s unique acoustics.
“Big and bombastic is just not a thing we can do with this size of orchestra in this space, so it forces us to become a bit more intimate, which is actually a really lovely way to bring the audience into us,” Mitchell explained.
The program weaves together traditional favorites like “Hallelujah Chorus” and “Sleigh Ride” with three world premiere arrangements by Matthew Jackfert, demonstrating Mitchell’s balance of innovation and tradition.
“Part of the joy for so many of us is also discovering new arrangements of carols we all know and love, so I’m really excited that we’ll be presenting the world premieres of three new arrangements,” Mitchell said.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Charts New Course With Hollywood-Classical Fusion’
At left, newly named Pasadena Symphony Music Director Brett Mitchell [photo by Tim Sullens]. At right, Aimée Kreston, Pasadena Symphony Concertmaster [photo courtesy of Pasadena Symphony]
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming tenure as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Music Director Brett Mitchell brings Symphony’s film scoring heritage to forefront through innovative programming
The Pasadena Symphony is embarking on an innovative new programming direction that celebrates its unique connection to Hollywood film scoring, as exemplified by their upcoming performance of Korngold’s Violin Concerto this weekend.
The strategic shift, under newly appointed Music Director Brett Mitchell, aims to highlight the orchestra’s distinctive makeup of musicians who regularly perform soundtracks for major motion pictures and animated films.
“The Pasadena Symphony is almost entirely made up of people who play the music for the movies that you all listen to,” explains Concertmaster Aimée Kreston, who has served with the orchestra since 2000. “We are the ones who actually are playing the soundtracks in all the great movies.”
This dual identity sets the Pasadena Symphony apart from other major orchestras.
“That’s not the case of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony or the New York Philharmonic,” Kreston notes.
The orchestra’s members can be heard in “every Pixar movie, every blockbuster,” contributing to some of Hollywood’s most notable soundtracks.
Mitchell’s programming strategy includes works by composers who bridge the classical and film music worlds. Beyond Korngold, who was himself a film composer, the orchestra will feature pieces by Peter Boyer, another established figure in both realms.
“I think it’s long overdue that we make that clear and that we bring that out, that that’s a core part of our identity,” says Kreston of the orchestra’s Hollywood connections.
The new direction comes following what Kreston describes as “a conductor search for several years, and it’s been going on since the Covid epidemic.”
Beyond its film music identity, the Pasadena Symphony maintains a robust presence in the community through “eleven youth ensembles,” educational programs, and “the beautiful summer Pops series out at the Arboretum.”
As Kreston notes, hundreds of young people participate in their youth orchestras, while the organization continues to bring classical music to Pasadena audiences through both its regular season and summer Pops series.
The orchestra’s evolution under Mitchell’s leadership represents a new chapter for the Pasadena Symphony.
The Pasadena Symphony performs at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Ambassador Auditorium. Music Director Brett Mitchell conducts violinist Akiko Suwanai in a program featuring Peter Boyer’s “New Beginnings,” Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan.”
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Launches 2024-25 Season with Mahler’s Monumental “Titan” Symphony No. 1’
PASADENA — Discover Los Angeles has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming first concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Pasadena Symphony launches its 2024-25 season and a new era under Music Director Brett Mitchell – only the sixth music director to lead the orchestra since it was founded in 1928 – with a program filled with symbolism on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 2 pm and 8 pm, at Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium. Mitchell conducts Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” Korgold’s Violin Concerto with renowned violinist Akiko Suwanai, winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and New Beginnings by Peter Boyer. The monumental program, deeply rooted in Pasadena, simultaneously looks both forward and back while also reflecting the orchestra members’ strong ties to the film and television recording industry. This marks the acclaimed orchestra’s 97th season.
Mitchell commences his tenure with New Beginnings, a dazzlingly celebratory fanfare by Boyer, a prolific film score orchestrator and GRAMMY-nominated composer based in Altadena who served as Pasadena Symphony’s 2012-13 Composer in Residence and has contributed orchestrations to more than 35 film scores. One of the composer’s earliest orchestral commissions, New Beginnings has been heard from Carnegie Hall to the Kansas prairie and adapted for background music on CBS This Morning. It has been hailed as “a well-crafted piece that mixes blazing fanfare-like material with a sweet secondary tune that could have come from the pen of Aaron Copland” (The Providence Journal).
Also embracing the orchestra’s cinematic connections and musical virtuosity, Suwanai, hailed for her “round, beautiful sound and perfect technique” (Opus Magazine), performs the Violin Concerto by Korngold, a masterful composer who brilliantly straddled both Hollywood and the rigorous Viennese Classical musical tradition from which he emerged. Referred to as a “Hollywood Concerto,” the beloved Violin Concerto integrates themes from films the composer scored during the Golden Age of cinema. It offers a subtle nod to the numerous Pasadena Symphony artists past and present whose work in the film recording industry spans the decades. In 2019, Mitchell conducted the work to great critical acclaim with Suwanai and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Spain.
Mitchell caps his first program as music director of the Pasadena Symphony with Mahler’s landmark Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” a staggering work of tremendous emotional depth for massive forces. The symphonic poem melds traditional and modernist musical ideas while shifting moods from joy and exuberance to introspection and melancholy. NPR states, “It's hard to resist the pull of a piece that begins like Mahler's First: The strings play a single note spread out over seven octaves."
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Begins Its 2024–25 Season With Its New Music Director, Brett Mitchell’
PASADENA — Colorado Boulevard has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming inaugural concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Mitchell will conduct Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Korgold’s Violin Concerto with renowned violinist Akiko Suwanai, winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and “New Beginnings” by Peter Boyer. The program, deeply rooted in Pasadena, reflects the orchestra members’ strong ties to the film and television recording industry. This marks the acclaimed orchestra’s 97th season… and the conductor’s first season with them.
Brett Mitchell commences his tenure appropriately with New Beginnings, a celebratory fanfare by Peter Boyer, a prolific film score orchestrator and GRAMMY-nominated composer based in Altadena. New Beginnings has been heard from Carnegie Hall to the Kansas prairie and was adapted for background music on CBS This Morning.
Also embracing the orchestra’s cinematic connections and musical virtuosity, Suwanai, performs the Violin Concerto by Korngold. Referred to as a “Hollywood Concerto,” the beloved Violin Concerto integrates themes from films the composer scored during the Golden Age of cinema. It offers a subtle nod to the numerous Pasadena Symphony artists past and present whose work in the film recording industry spans the decades.
Mitchell caps his first program as music director of the Pasadena Symphony with Mahler’s landmark Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” a staggering work of tremendous emotional depth for massive forces.
Mitchell says, “I’m truly thrilled that the Pasadena Symphony’s season launch and my debut as music director is finally here! What better way to connect with the Pasadena community than by opening my tenure with the brilliant music of a world-renowned composer from right up the road in Altadena?”
This is the first of six distinctive programs this season, each of which will spotlight the critically acclaimed orchestra’s artistry, deep community roots, and unwavering commitment to championing both emerging and established composers. Mitchell has been hailed for his “deftly rendered” performances (The Plain Dealer) and “engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs” (Cascade A&E). Mitchell’s five-year tenure with the Pasadena Symphony began on April 1, 2024.
Tickets include admission to a pre-concert conversation held one hour prior to the concert. KUSC Classical California’s Brian Lauritzen will interview the Pasadena Symphony’s new Music Director, Brett Mitchell, offering a deep and entertaining dive into the program.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Mahler’s “Titan” Launches New Era for Pasadena Symphony Under Baton of Brett Mitchell’
PASADENA — Pasadena Now has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming inaugural concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Incoming Music Director Brett Mitchell lays out his vision of orchestral music accessible to all
The Pasadena Symphony will open its 2024-25 season on October 26 at Ambassador Auditorium with a landmark performance of Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony, marking the debut of new Music Director Brett Mitchell. The ambitious program signals Mitchell’s vision to broaden the orchestra’s appeal while honoring classical traditions.
“My fundamental philosophy of symphonic music is that it really is for everybody,” Mitchell said in a recent interview. “My ultimate idea is that there shouldn’t be any kind of music you couldn’t hear by coming to the Pasadena Symphony.”
The 45-year-old Mitchell was appointed to lead the Pasadena Symphony as it approaches its centennial.
He plans to shape the orchestra’s sound and repertoire through diverse programming that balances classical masterpieces with contemporary works.
The choice of Mahler’s First Symphony, nicknamed “Titan,” for Mitchell’s inaugural concert holds deep personal significance.
“I was 16 years old when I first heard this music,” Mitchell recalled. “It is not too much to say that moment changed my life.”
Mitchell’s journey to classical music was unconventional. Growing up in Seattle during the 1990s, he was immersed in the grunge scene before discovering Beethoven.
In fact, this background informs his current approach to programming: “very diverse, very inclusive” in terms of the composers and styles that are represented.
“If all we’re doing is programming one kind of music, we may only attract one kind of audience,” Mitchell explained. “Whereas if we have music by, let’s say, an African-American woman on a particular program, it becomes much easier for people to feel welcome in the hall.”
Mitchell’s background in composition — he holds an undergraduate degree in the field — influences his support for contemporary composers, especially those from underrepresented communities.
He sees classical music as a continuum, aiming to create “conversations across the centuries” in his programming.
Beyond programming, Mitchell emphasized community engagement as his key priority. He aims to make the orchestra more accessible through educational outreach, particularly to young people.
“It is more incumbent upon nonprofits and arts organizations like ours to step in,” he said, by way of referring to declining arts education funding in schools.
Mitchell brings significant experience in youth education having worked with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. He plans to be involved with the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestra and to visit schools, working directly with young musicians.
To attract new audiences, Mitchell plans, in part, to incorporate technology and innovative performance formats.
“We have to do that in the 21st century,” he said. “There are so many options now for entertainment.”
He hinted this could include adding visual elements to some performances.
Mitchell’s long-term vision is for the Pasadena Symphony to become “a nexus for all of the arts in Pasadena,” potentially incorporating dance, visual art, and even popular music into performances. He sees this artistic growth as interconnected with audience engagement and financial stability.
The conductor credits two principal mentors for shaping his approach: Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel, both former music directors of the New York Philharmonic.
“I can’t even imagine my career without the influence of both of those men,” Mitchell said.
The October 26 concerts will take place at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Ambassador Auditorium. In addition to Mahler’s First Symphony, the program will feature New Beginnings by local composer Peter Boyer of Altadena and International Tchaikovsky Competition winner Akiko Suwanai performing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto.
“My goodness, a new era has arrived!” Mitchell said of the upcoming season.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Launches 97th Season with Debut of New Music Director Brett Mitchell’
Brett Mitchell will lead his opening concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony on Saturday, October 26 at the Ambassador Auditorium.
PASADENA — Broadway World has published a preview of the inaugural program of Brett Mitchell’s tenure as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Pasadena Symphony launches its 2024-25 season and a new era under Music Director Brett Mitchell – only the sixth music director to lead the orchestra since it was founded in 1928 – with a program filled with symbolism on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 2 pm and 8 pm, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.
Mitchell conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” Korgold's Violin Concerto with renowned violinist Akiko Suwanai, winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and New Beginnings by Peter Boyer.
The monumental program, deeply rooted in Pasadena, simultaneously looks both forward and back while also reflecting the orchestra members' strong ties to the film and television recording industry. This marks the acclaimed orchestra's 97th season.
Mitchell commences his tenure with New Beginnings, a dazzlingly celebratory fanfare by Boyer, a prolific film score orchestrator and GRAMMY-nominated composer based in Altadena who served as Pasadena Symphony's 2012-13 Composer in Residence and has contributed orchestrations to more than 35 film scores. One of the composer's earliest orchestral commissions, New Beginnings has been heard from Carnegie Hall to the Kansas prairie and adapted for background music on CBS This Morning.
Also embracing the orchestra's cinematic connections and musical virtuosity, Suwanai, hailed for her “round, beautiful sound and perfect technique” (Opus Magazine), performs the Violin Concerto by Korngold, a masterful composer who brilliantly straddled both Hollywood and the rigorous Viennese Classical musical tradition from which he emerged. Referred to as a “Hollywood Concerto,” the beloved Violin Concerto integrates themes from films the composer scored during the Golden Age of cinema. It offers a subtle nod to the numerous Pasadena Symphony artists past and present whose work in the film recording industry spans the decades. In 2019, Mitchell conducted the work to great critical acclaim with Suwanai and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Spain.
Mitchell caps his first program as music director of the Pasadena Symphony with Mahler's landmark Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” a staggering work of tremendous emotional depth for massive forces. The symphonic poem melds traditional and modernist musical ideas while shifting moods from joy and exuberance to introspection and melancholy. NPR states, “It's hard to resist the pull of a piece that begins like Mahler's First: The strings play a single note spread out over seven octaves."
Says Mitchell, “I'm truly thrilled that the Pasadena Symphony's season launch and my debut as music director is finally here! What better way to connect with the Pasadena community than by opening my tenure with the brilliant music of a world-renowned composer from right up the road in Altadena? I am proud to kick off my first subscription series with the orchestra with Peter Boyer's New Beginnings and a masterpiece by of one of Hollywood's most legendary composers: Erich Wolfgang Korngold's sumptuous Violin Concerto, performed by the exquisite Akiko Suwanai. At the heart of my relationship with the Pasadena Symphony is, of course, my joyful collaboration with our masterful musicians. I'm very excited their talent will be on display front and center on one of the greatest orchestral showpieces of all time: Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1, ‘Titan.' This promises to be an inspirational, stimulating start to our time together, and I can't wait to share it with you all!”
Pasadena Symphony President & CEO Andrew Brown states, “Pasadena Symphony's season-opening program on October 26th is a major milestone in the orchestra's history as we officially welcome to the podium Brett Mitchell as our stellar new music director. The launch of Brett's musical leadership marks the beginning of a significant new era of exciting musical possibilities for the acclaimed orchestra. We look forward to all that Brett will bring to the Pasadena Symphony, which has been a beloved and celebrated part of the community's cultural landscape since its inception in 1928, entertaining, inspiring, and captivating generations of audiences with its musical virtuosity.”
This is the first of six distinctive programs Mitchell will lead this season, all of which will spotlight the critically acclaimed orchestra's artistry, deep community roots, and unwavering commitment to championing emerging and established composers.
Preview: ‘Sunriver Music Festival to have doubly classical year in Central Oregon’
Brett Mitchell will lead the Sunriver Music Festival’s 2024 season in Central Oregon from August 10 to 23. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
BEND, Ore. — The Bulletin (Bend) has published a preview of the Sunriver Music Festival’s 2024 season, Brett Mitchell’s third as Artistic Director & Conductor:
Earth. Fire. Water. Air. These are the four classical elements the ancient Greeks used to explain the nature of matter.
Sunriver Music Festival, Central Oregon’s soon-to-return summer classical music series, returns this week with four classical concerts. Maestro Brett Mitchell and the Sunriver Music Festival team struck thematic gold this year, tying each of the year’s four concerts to one of those classical elements. It starts with Sunday’s opening night concert at the Tower Theatre in Bend, works inspired by or pertaining to Earth on the opening night concert Sunday at the Tower Theatre in Bend, the first of a total of four festival concerts that will be held at the downtown Bend theater.
On Aug. 18, the Festival Orchestra will present the second of the elementally themed concerts, “Water,” also the fourth and final of the Tower concerts, before moving back to its longtime home, the Sunriver Resort Great Hall, for “Fire” (Aug. 21), featuring pianist Joyce Yang, followed by the annual solo concert on Aug. 22, on which renowned violinist and bluegrass fiddler Tessa Lark will perform. Lark returns the following evening for the final of this year’s concerts, “Air.”
Four score
Before they tackle the second elemental concert, however, Mitchell and the Festival Orchestra will present the ever-popular Pops Concert, “A Tribute to Broadway & Film Music,” on Tuesday at the Tower.
This year’s Pops Concert features a celebration of big anniversaries, which includes music from films such as 60-year-old “My Fair Lady” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and younger fare such as 30-year-old “Forrest Gump,” Mitchell said.
“You kind of see where I’m going with it. All of these pieces are on this Pops program not just because they’re fun pieces that I think work together, but it’s a really nice way to commemorate the passage of time,” Mitchell said. “All of the pieces premiered or were released in ‘4’ years — 1944, 1964, 2004, that kind of thing.”
A fire idea
The idea for the season to have the “Classical Elements” theme came from the festival’s board and Meagan Iverson, SRMF executive director, Mitchell said.
“There’s no reason that the public would know this, but we have our final concert of every season on whatever night that is, and then literally the very next morning, the board and I sit down for like an hour and a half and we just do a debrief,” Mitchell said. They discuss what worked, what they’d bring back and what could be improved upon. One of those things was to have a theme that runs like connective tissue throughout the festival.
From the brainstorm session, “I took it and ran with it. I thought, ‘We have four classical concerts, and there are four classical elements,’” Mitchell said, adding with a laugh, “Apparently, now there’s five, but we don’t talk about that, ‘cause that screws up my season.” (To save you a Google trip: It’s “aether,” aka “quintessence.”)
Evocative tunes
Finding compositions that fit each evening’s theme was not exactly a problem.
“The trouble was not finding pieces; the trouble was ‘Of all of these pieces, what are we going to do?’” Mitchell said.
“Because composers have been so drawn to creating what we would call programmatic pieces — pieces inspired by things outside the music itself. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is not a programmatic piece; it’s just a piece of music. But Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, which we’re doing on opening night this year, is program music,” he said. “It’s music that was specifically designed to evoke Beethoven’s love of nature, which seemed a great way to open the whole festival.”
That evening’s concert also features Charles Ives’ Variations on “America” and a celebration of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring the talents of Orion Weiss, described as a “brilliant pianist” by The New York Times.
Mitchell points to how the second classical concert’s music evokes the evening’s “Water” theme. It starts with Johann Strauss’ “The Blue Danube,” followed by Debussy’s “The Sunken Cathedral,” “which every elementary pianist tries to play,” he said. They’re followed by George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music Suite” and Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony.
“We really leaned into all of those various composers, really trying to be evocative,” he said.
Other program notes
Mitchell and Iverson are enthused about having violinist Lark on hand this season. In addition to her solo program on Aug. 22, Lark will perform Michael Torke’s “Sky” concerto with the orchestra on Aug. 23’s “Air” concert.
“That was literally written for her and to feature her unique skill set, which is bluegrass and classical,” Iverson said. “She’s renowned in bluegrass circles worldwide, in addition to being an acclaimed classical violinist.”
“The particularly cool thing about this piece,” Mitchell said, “is it absolutely takes someone with classical chops to be able to play this piece, but it also takes somebody with a deep understanding of bluegrass music to be able to.”
The family-style matinee Discover the Symphony concert at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15, is a one-hour, kid-friendly concert fit for anyone looking to dip a toe in classical waters. The afternoon will also feature an instrument petting zoo, affording a hands-on approach, prior to the concert.
“This is a perfect concert for folks that have never been to a classical music concert to go to first,” Mitchell said. “I would call it like a sample platter of everything else that’s on the rest of the season, but if you’re not down to sit through a whole Beethoven symphony, you can sit through a movement of a Beethoven symphony.”
Mitchell recently signed on for another four years as conductor of Sunriver Music Festival, which will take him through 2028. Oregon holds a special place in the hearts of Mitchell, who spent summers with his grandparents in Grants Pass as a boy, and his family, with whom he lives in Colorado.
“It’s funny, you know. It’s like the position is with the festival, but I feel so much a part of the community,” he said. “It speaks well of Sunriver, and just Central Oregon generally speaking, that we’ve all felt so welcome.”
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: ‘Conductor Brett Mitchell returns to Blossom Music Center’
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra’s opening classical performance of the 2024 Blossom Music Festival on Saturday, July 6. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND - Cleveland Classical has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming season-opening classical performance with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center:
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
“To say that once again being asked to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom is an honor would be a gross understatement,” Brett Mitchell said during a telephone interview. “I am not often at a loss for words, but there really aren’t any to describe how much it means to me.”
On Saturday, July 6 at 7:00 pm Mitchell will return to the Blossom podium to lead The Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American,” and Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal. The program also includes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in Béla Fleck’s transcription for banjo and orchestra with Fleck as soloist. Tickets are available online.
Mitchell said he loves Rhapsody in Blue. But when the Orchestra told him that they didn’t want the symphonic version that is often played by orchestras he thought they might be considering the original Paul Whiteman jazz band version. “It turned out that what they wanted was Béla Fleck’s transcription where he plays the piano part on the banjo.”
The conductor said that he’s delighted to have the work on the program and to once again work with Fleck. “It’s wonderful because during my first season with the Colorado Symphony, Béla came and we did his third banjo concerto. So he and I have worked together before — and we hit it off. He’s an amazing musician. It’s funny, because he’s won all these GRAMMYs and the GRAMMYs operate by categorizing folks. Yet Béla has made a name for himself by thinking outside the box — or by not even acknowledging the box, just by loving great music and approaching it in the way that only he can.”
Mitchell also thinks that transcribing a piano work for the banjo rather than a single line instrument such as the clarinet or cello makes a lot of sense. “A cello can play chords here and there, but it is not percussive in the way that the piano is. The attack of a piano note can be quite direct, and no instrument does direct better than a banjo. It’s because of the twang of the banjo — the sound it makes when it’s strummed, or when it’s plucked, or when it’s picked — can cut through just about anything. So I think it’s going to be a total trip and I’m just tickled that the audience is going to get to hear it.”
The conductor noted that William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1 is a piece that has been on his wish list for over a decade. “So when the Orchestra asked if I would be interested, both of my hands immediately shot up.”
Mitchell pointed out that while 2024 is the 100th anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue it is also the 80th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town.
“The show opened in 1944, and I think it’s really interesting to hear what jazz on Broadway sounded like in 1924 with Gershwin, and in 1944 with Bernstein. 20 years doesn’t seem like that long a time, but when you listen to both pieces you’d think they were written 50 years apart. The musical growth during the jazz age and the depression, and once the Second World War started the Swing era really took hold with Glenn Miller and the Dorsey brothers — the change is just extraordinary.”
Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal was written in 1931 and was the composer’s first work for full orchestra. “Barber lived from 1910 -1981, which means he was 21 years old when he wrote it, which is just astonishing — he was still studying at Curtis. He wrote it during the summer in Italy, and when he returned to Curtis, he tried to have the piece read by the school orchestra, but the director at the time was none other than Fritz Reiner who said, thanks, but no thanks.”
The work was premiered two years later by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Smallens. “I think it’s ironic when your university orchestra won’t even read your piece, and two years later it’s on a concert program by the Philadelphia Orchestra.”
Saturday’s concert will also be a homecoming for Mitchell, who served on the conducting staff from 2013 to 2017, first as Assistant Conductor then as Associate Conductor. He was Music Director of the Colorado Symphony from 2017 to 2021. In March Mitchell was named Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony, and the Sunriver Music Festival has extended his contract as Artistic Director & Conductor through the 2028 summer season. Still there is a special place in his heart for Cleveland.
“I conducted The Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concerts last year and I think a third of the way through was my 150th performance with that amazing orchestra — which just blows my mind. And the fact that they’ve asked me to return to Blossom is a thrill, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity.”
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Preview: Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra's 2023 holiday festival
Brett Mitchell will lead more than a dozen performances with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center between December 13 and 23, 2023.
CLEVELAND — Fox 8 News has broadcast an interview with Ross Binnie, Chief Brand Officer of The Cleveland Orchestra, about the ensemble’s upcoming holiday festival, featuring 14 performances led by guest conductor Brett Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell will conduct a dozen performances of the orchestra’s annual Holiday Concerts from December 13 through 23, as well as two performances of John Debney’s score for Elf (2003) while the film is shown live on the big screen above the Severance Music Center stage on December 19 and 20.
Watch the complete interview below, or click here to view it on Fox 8 News’s website.