NEWS
Preview: "Live Broadcast: Hear the Colorado Symphony welcome its next Music Director to Denver"
Brett Mitchell leads the Colorado Symphony in his first rehearsal as Music Director Designate on Wednesday, October 12. (Photo by Stephanie Derybowski)
CPR Classical has published a preview about their broadcast of Brett Mitchell's debut this weekend as Music Director Designate of the Colorado Symphony:
This Friday, CPR Classical presents a live broadcast of the Colorado Symphony featuring conductor Brett Mitchell, the orchestra's next music director.
The concert will also mark the premiere of a new violin concerto written by Colorado composer Daniel Kellogg. Violinist and Colorado Symphony concertmaster Yumi Hwang-Williams is the featured soloist. Kellogg's works have been performed by the National Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and contemporary ensemble eighth blackbird.
Hear the concert live from Boettcher Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Friday. David Rutherford, who explores Colorado's classical music scene each weeknight on CPR Classical, will host. The program:
Beethoven: Overture to "King Stephen"
Kellogg: "Rising Phoenix"
Dvorák: Symphony No. 8 in G major
Check out our recent interview with Mitchell, conducted shortly after the orchestra announced his appointment in September. He talked about why he's thrilled to be the orchestra's next music director and the lessons he learned as associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.
To read the complete article, please click here. To hear the live broadcast on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Mountain, please click here.
Video: "Colorado Symphony new music director"
Brett Mitchell speaks with anchor Corey Rose on the set of 9NEWS in Denver. (Photo by Rachel Trignano)
Brett Mitchell appeared this morning on NBC's Denver affiliate (9NEWS) to discuss his upcoming tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony and his first concerts as Music Director Designate this weekend. To watch this interview, please click here.
Preview: "A super preview of 'Superman at the Symphony' with conductor Brett Mitchell"
Brett Mitchell is featured in the current episode of Comic Book Central, discussing John Williams's score for Superman in advance of his performance of selections from the score with The Cleveland Orchestra on Sunday, October 30 at Severance Hall.
Preview: "Beachwood High School to Celebrate Opening of Auditorium with Concert by The Cleveland Orchestra"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance to dedicate Beachwood High School's newly renovated auditorium on Saturday, November 5. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Broadway World has published an article previewing one of Brett Mitchell's upcoming performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, featuring works of Williams, Beethoven, Daugherty, and Ravel:
On Saturday evening, November 5, 2016, The Cleveland Orchestra will join with Beachwood High School to dedicate the school's newly renovated auditorium and celebrate the school system's outstanding music education programs.
The evening begins at 7:00 p.m. with members of the Beachwood High School Orchestra, Band, and Chorus performing as part of a music education showcase. Immediately following the student showcase, The Cleveland Orchestra will take the stage to perform a concert that will include Beethoven's Overture to The Consecration of the House, his Leonore Overture No. 3, and more. The concert will conclude with a "side-by-side" performance of an excerpt from Ravel's Bolero, for which The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by Beachwood student musicians.
Prior to the November 5 concert, Cleveland Orchestra musicians...will participate in masterclasses and coachings with Beachwood school music ensembles. Additionally, Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell will rehearse with the Beachwood High School Orchestra conducted by Lisa Goldman and the Beachwood High School Band conducted by David Luddington.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: "Ross Binnie talks about The Cleveland Orchestra's fall season"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in seven performances of George Balanchine's ‘The Nutcracker’ this fall, one of many projects he will lead during his fourth and final season with the orchestra. (Photo by Alexander Iziliaev of Pennsylvania Ballet)
Cleveland Classical has published a conversation with Ross Binnie, Chief Marketing Officer of The Cleveland Orchestra, previewing the ensemble's upcoming fall season, including a number of programs led by Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell during his fourth and final season with the orchestra.
On Sunday, October 30 at 3:00 pm, Brett Mitchell will lead the Orchestra in the annual Holiday Spooktacular. The program, titled “Superman at the Symphony,” features music from John Williams’s score for the movie Superman and Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony, accompanied by classic images of the Man of Steel. “This is one of our big traditions of the year. The Orchestra takes the dressing-up part very seriously, and all the kids and families come in costume. It’s always fun.”
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra will present their season opener on November 18 at 8:00 pm. Brett Mitchell will lead performances of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 and the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth, which was commissioned by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. “This is an ambitious start to their season, but it’s terrific for Brett and the orchestra to have a world premiere and the Bruckner to begin the year.
The Orchestra’s 2016 holiday offerings begin with George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker with Pennsylvania Ballet, Angel Corella artistic director. Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in performances at the State Theater, Playhouse Square from November 30 through December 4. “Who doesn’t love The Nutcracker?” Binnie said. “There are seven performances including a Friday matinee. This is our first time presenting it with the Pennsylvania Ballet, which will be exciting all around.”
It’s movie time on December 8 and 9 when Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Youth Chorus in Dimitri Tiomkin’s score to Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. “I think it’s absolutely amazing how precise and how wrapped up in the story the orchestra has to be. You realize just how great this music is when you hear it performed live: I never think I’ve heard the soundtracks to movies properly until I hear them performed by this Orchestra. Between this movie and the music, it’s going to be stunning.”
To read the complete article, please click here.
Previews: "Cleveland Orchestra pushes in fresh directions"
Associate conductor Brett Mitchell and concertmaster William Preucil will give the first Cleveland Orchestra performances this season of the Violin Concerto No. 3 by Augusta Read Thomas, pictured here. (Photo by Anthony Barlich)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published several previews of The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016-17 season, which features a number of programs to be led by Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell in his final year with the orchestra.
The first preview, titled "Cleveland Orchestra pushes in fresh directions," contains the following listings:
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 4
Bernstein: Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront"
Thomas: Violin Concerto No. 3
Copland: Symphony No. 3
Artists: Brett Mitchell, conductor; William Preucil, violin
Notes: Associate conductor Brett Mitchell, music director designate of the Colorado Symphony, presides over an all-American program featuring the Severance premieres of Bernstein's "On the Waterfront" and the "Juggler in Paradise" concerto by Augusta Read Thomas, performed by concertmaster Preucil.
7 p.m. Friday, March 3; "Fridays@7"
Thomas: Violin Concerto No. 3
Copland: Symphony No. 3
Artists: Mitchell, conductor; Preucil, violin
Notes: This Friday-night crowd gets a panoramic view of American music, as interpreted by associate conductor Mitchell: Copland's grand Symphony No. 3 alongside the "Juggler in Paradise" concerto by Augusta Read Thomas, performed by concertmaster Preucil.
7 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, June 1-3; and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 4
Bernstein: "West Side Story" (film with live accompaniment)
Artist: Mitchell, conductor
Notes: Outgoing associate conductor Mitchell (music director designate of the Colorado Symphony) concludes the season, and gives one heck of a farewell, with one last film accompanied live by the orchestra. This time, though, the composer is a household name: Leonard Bernstein.
The second preview, titled "Cleveland Orchestra welcomes holidays, families," focuses on other programs Mr. Mitchell will lead at Severance Hall and beyond during the 2016-17 season, including a production of George Ballanchine's The Nutcracker with Pennsylvania Ballet, family and holiday programs, film projects, and the complete season of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.
Brett Mitchell presides over the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra for the 2016-17 season, the last of his tenure at Severance Hall. (Photo by Thomas Ondrey for The Plain Dealer)
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.
"Meet the seven candidates vying to lead the Boise Philharmonic"
Brett Mitchell is one of seven conductors scheduled to lead the Boise Philharmonic during its 2016-17 season. (Photo illustration by Lindsie Bergevin)
The Idaho Statesman has published a feature about the seven conductors leading the Boise Philharmonic during its 2016-17 search for a new music director, concluding with Brett Mitchell in April 2017:
Brett Mitchell owes a lot to his high school music teacher Lesley Moffat. She encouraged him to get up in front of his peers and conduct his own composition when he was 16.
“She was an amazing, amazing teacher,” Mitchell says.
Mitchell, 37, started piano as a kid and originally pursued the pianist and composer route. But the more he went down that path, the lonelier it became.
“As a pianist you spend so much time alone practicing, and the end result is going on stage alone,” Mitchell says. “As a conductor, you spend time alone, but then you get together with 80 of your colleagues and play music. At the end of the day, I’m a people person.”
Mitchell seeks to make classical music accessible to everyone.
“Some people think of classical as this stuffy unapproachable genre,” he says. “If you’re in New York City, there are opportunities to hear great orchestral music every night. It’s regional centers, like Boise, that are geographically isolated, that need to have access to this music.”
To read the complete article, please click here.
A second article, "Boise Philharmonic embarked on a wide search for its new leader," details the search process the orchestra the orchestra went through to arrive at these seven conductors.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses upcoming Cleveland Orchestra performance
Brett Mitchell at the ideastream studios on Wednesday, August 10. (Photo by Angela Mitchell)
Brett Mitchell spoke with Mark Satola on WCLV Classical 104.9 this afternoon about The Cleveland Orchestra's concert tomorrow evening, which marks the culmination of the orchestra's summer-long residency in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. To hear this interview, please click here.
Preview: Cleveland Orchestra plays in Hough
Cleveland Scene has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming concert with The Cleveland Orchestra:
On Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 pm, the Orchestra will play a free Neighborhood Residency Concert at East Technical Auditorium in Hough, led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell. Word has it that all the tickets have already been distributed, but you can take your chances and line up for open seats at 7:15 pm. You can also tune in to WCLV 104.9 FM, or catch a webcast at clevelandorchestra.com or ideastream.org.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra, Museum of Art seek to make 'partners forever' with Hough residency"
The Cleveland Orchestra appeared at Our Lady of Lourdes Church during its 2015 residency in the Broadway Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland. This year the group will give a free concert in the Hough neighborhood. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Museum of Art's upcoming joint residency in Hough, a neighborhood just west of both institutions' homes in University Circle:
The centerpiece of the residency is a free community concert Thursday, Aug. 11, tickets to which are still available. On that night, associate conductor Brett Mitchell will lead the orchestra in a performance similar in spirit to its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Concert.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: Brett Mitchell leads the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra
Cool Cleveland has published a brief preview of Brett Mitchell's performance on Saturday, July 30, a double bill of the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra:
The Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra conducted by Brett Mitchell opens the evening with Andrew Norman’s 2010 “The Great Swiftness” and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: Colorado Symphony debut
The Denver Post has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming debut with the Colorado Symphony:
Yes, this Colorado Symphony event at Boettcher Concert Hall is a marketing effort disguised as a free concert. But let me break that down: Free concert. Colorado Symphony. Boettcher Concert Hall. Get your tickets in advance and fast, and get a look at conductor Brett Mitchell, who comes along just as the CSO is shopping for a new music director.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Previews: "Cleveland Orchestra, Museum of Art release program and ticket details of Hough Residency"
Associate conductor Brett Mitchell, seen here conducting The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall, will preside over the centerpiece of the upcoming Hough Neighborhood Residency, a free community concert Thursday, Aug. 11. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) and Cleveland Scene have published previews of The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Museum of Art's upcoming Hough Neighborhood Residency, including details of the culminating concert on Thursday, August 11, led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell.
To read The Plain Dealer's preview, please click here. To read Cleveland Scene's preview, please click here.
For those that cannot attend in person, a live radio broadcast of the August 11 concert will air on WCLV Classical 104.9 at 7:30 p.m. (which may be streamed worldwide at this link), and a delayed television broadcast will air on WVIZ/PBS on Friday, August 12 at 9:00 p.m., repeating on Sunday, August 14 at 3:00 p.m.
Summer 2016 newsletter released
The Summer 2016 edition of Brett Mitchell's newsletter has been released. This edition highlights upcoming and recent performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and more. To read and/or subscribe, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses upcoming Cleveland Orchestra concert celebrating Cleveland Museum of Art's centennial
Associate conductor Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance on Sunday, June 26 celebrating the centennial of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Orchestra's neighbor in University Circle.
Brett Mitchell joined host Bill O'Connell on WCLV Classical 104.9 this afternoon to discuss The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming performance on Sunday, June 26, which will serve as the finale of the Cleveland Museum of Art's Centennial Festival Weekend. To hear this interview, please click here.
Preview: "Solstice is Centerpiece of Terrific Weekend at Wade Oval"
Cleveland Scene has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming concert with The Cleveland Orchestra on Sunday, June 26:
The weekend culminates Sunday evening with a special performance outside Wade Lagoon by the Cleveland Orchestra. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., the Cleveland Orchestra will perform on the CMA’s south terrace for the very first time in its 100-year history.
“It's a great pleasure for us to help our friends at the Cleveland Museum of Art celebrate their centennial,” says Brett Mitchell, Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra. "The five pieces on our program all feature intimate connections between the worlds of visual art and classical music, with two of the composers having visited and performed at the CMA during its first hundred years.”
Sunday’s concert is the weekend’s grand finale, and is free and open to the public. Created to provide connections to the visual arts and the summer solstice, the concert will feature works by Bartók, Hindemith, Mussorgsky, Respighi and Adam Schoenberg under the direction of Cleveland Orchestra Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell.
“Béla Bartók and Paul Hindemith, two in a long line of artists who performed in the museum’s longstanding concert series, both visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, either performing or giving lectures,” organizers stated in an official press release. “The Hindemith, Respighi, and Adam Schoenberg works were inspired by the visual arts and the Mussorgsky work has a connection to the summer solstice.”
“Having The Cleveland Orchestra perform the finale of our Centennial Festival Weekend is about the greatest birthday gift I think we could ever imagine,” says Tom Welsh, the museum's Director of Performing Arts.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: "The Cleveland Orchestra Celebrates the Art Museum's Centennial"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in a special performance at the Cleveland Museum of Art on Sunday, June 26.
Cleveland Scene has listed Brett Mitchell's June 26 performance with The Cleveland Orchestra as its principal classical music event not to miss this week:
The Cleveland Museum of Art just turned 100 years old, and The Cleveland Orchestra will mark that milestone by crossing the street to play an outdoor concert on the Museum’s South Terrace on Sunday, June 26 at 5:30 pm. Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell will wield the baton for a program of art-related music, including some pieces by composers who actually visited the Museum on their trips to Cleveland. The program features music by Paul Hindemith, Ottorino Respighi, Adam Schoenberg, Béla Bartók, and Modest Mussorgsky. Admission is free. It. Will. Not. Rain.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra announces details of ambitious 2016-17 season"
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra announced its 2016-17 season Wednesday. Included in the plans are several contemporary works and first performances of symphonies by Bruckner and Prokofiev. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published an article previewing the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 season, its fourth under music director Brett Mitchell:
Nothing flashy about the number 31, but the 31st season of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra is special nonetheless.
During its fourth year under music director Brett Mitchell, associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, the distinguished pre-professional ensemble will take several giant steps forward in the form of a world premiere, two other contemporary works, and first-time performances of symphonies by Bruckner and Prokofiev.
"It's such a wonderful opportunity to keep building on this culture," said Mitchell before the 2016-17 season announcement Wednesday. "Three years isn't time enough to do anything."
They'll be getting a lot done this year, that's for sure. So sophisticated are the three programs COYO has planned, one might even confuse them with those of the main Cleveland Orchestra.
Up first, on Friday, Nov. 18, is a weighty night of two firsts: the group's first Bruckner (Symphony No. 4) and the premiere of "Fountains of Youth," by Roger Briggs, Mitchell's former teacher at Western Washington University.
"To have that lineage is a beautiful, special thing," Mitchell explained. "His [Briggs'] was one of the first modern voices to enter to my ear. I wish I had the words to describe the honor of this, how touched I am."
As for the Bruckner, Mitchell said it was Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst who gave him the idea, and the nerve. After publicly praising COYO at its season finale this year, Mitchell said the conductor and Bruckner expert gave his blessing to the group taking on the Fourth.
"Once he said that, having that vote of support, that was really what gave us the confidence to move forward," Mitchell said, noting that Bruckner "has always been a foreign language to me. But these are my colleagues now, and we get to take this journey together."
More new territory awaits on the second program, on Sunday, Feb. 19. Then, in addition to Debussy's "Nocturnes" and the Poulenc Gloria with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, the group will perform "Sea-Blue Circuitry," a work by American composer Mason Bates.
Think of that as further evidence that when it comes to the music of his homeland today, Mitchell is serious.
"It's a core part of who I am," Mitchell said. "For me, it is never lip service. We are a contemporary American orchestra, and we should be playing contemporary American music."
The final program, on Friday, May 12, takes COYO in both directions simultaneously.
On the one hand, the group will undertake its first Prokofiev Symphony (the widely-beloved Fifth). On the other, another contemporary American work: Joan Tower's "Made in America."
All in a night's work for a group striving every year to do and be more.
"It's a huge, huge season for us," Mitchell said, adding that "this is what we in COYO do now."
To read the complete article, please click here. To read the official news release from The Cleveland Orchestra, please click here.
Preview: "Houston Symphony to pay tribute to John Williams at The Pavilion"
The Courier (Houston) has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming performance of an all-John Williams program with the Houston Symphony on Tuesday, June 7.
Conductor Brett Mitchell will lead the symphony in selections from “Star Wars”, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, “Schindler’s List”, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” and other works....
Mitchell said Williams’ music is an “enormous” amount of fun to play but also “incredibly” challenging from a technical perspective. He said the orchestra will play tens of thousands of notes, requiring significant stamina from the brass musicians as Williams writes “demanding” music for the section.
“For many of us, the music we’ll play was the gateway to the larger world of orchestral music of Beethoven, Mahler, and Stravinsky we’ve chosen to devote our lives to performing,” Mitchell said.
A concert of music from film is about reliving familiar—even favorite—movies in a new way, Mitchell said. Without the dialogue, sound effects and picture, individuals can focus on the melodies.
“A master composer like Williams perfectly captures the emotion and drama of every picture he scores, so listening and to that music by itself can make for a more emotional experience,” he said. “All you need is a sense of adventure, an appetite for fun, and an open mind to let the music transport you, even to a galaxy far, far away.”
To read the complete article, please click here.