NEWS

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Brett Mitchell receives Young Alumnus of the Year Award from undergraduate alma mater

Brett Mitchell has been selected to receive the 2014 Young Alumnus of the Year Award from his undergraduate alma mater, Western Washington University, from which he earned a Bachelor of Music in composition in 2001. This award, established in 1980, is the most prestigious honor bestowed on a young alumnus. Mr. Mitchell will return to WWU to accept this award and lead their orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 on June 2, 2014.

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Audio: COYO subscription concert preview

Brett Mitchell joined WCLV's Bill O'Connell on this afternoon's drive-time show to discuss the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's upcoming subscription concert, featuring the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus and mezzo-soprano Amanda Russo. To listen, please click here.

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Debut with The Cleveland Orchestra

Brett Mitchell will make his debut with The Cleveland Orchestra this Saturday, March 1, leading a sold-out concert at the Long Center in Austin, Texas. This marks Mr. Mitchell's first appearance on the podium in Austin since attending The University of Texas from 2001 to 2005. For more information, please click here.

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Blossom Music Festival debut

Brett Mitchell will make his debut at the Blossom Music Festival--The Cleveland Orchestra's summer home--in summer 2014, leading the Kent/Blossom Chamber Orchestra in a program of Wagner and Ravel on Saturday, July 26. Additional information can be found in the complete season announcement.

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Winter 2014 newsletter released

The Winter 2014 edition of Brett Mitchell's newsletter has been released. This edition highlights the significant press coverage surrounding Mitchell's Severance Hall debut, including a front-page appearance in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, concert reviews, and in-depth personal profiles. To read (and for the option to subscribe), please click here.

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Review: "MLK Community Open House at Severance Hall"

ClevelandClassical has published a review of Brett Mitchell's performance with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra that concluded Severance Hall's 2014 MLK Community Open House. "They brilliantly feted Dr. King with two separate Festive Overtures, by Shostakovich and African-American composer William Grant Still. 'Engelkonzert,' the first movement of Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler Symphony, which COYO will perform in its entirety on March 9, glowed and surged... The performance and open house ended in suitably glorious fashion with the triumphant 'Great Gate of Kiev,' from Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition." To read the complete review, please click here.

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Brett Mitchell delivers Super Bowl pick in Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Plain Dealer recently polled "Notable Northeast Ohioans" for their pick to win Super Bowl XLVIII, and asked Brett Mitchell to weigh in. Mitchell, a Seattle native, unsurprisingly picked the Seahawks to top the Denver Broncos, 30-27, capturing their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history. To read the complete article, please click here.

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Review: Cultured Cleveland raves about Brett Mitchell's first concert as COYO Music Director

Cultured Cleveland has reviewed Brett Mitchell's first concert as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. "Talk about setting the bar high: For his Severance Hall debut with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, new [Cleveland Orchestra] Assistant Conductor Brett Mitchell programmed three 20th-century works, two of which would challenge any professional orchestra, along with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Thatʼs beyond bold. But it’s entirely in keeping with the career arc of Mitchell, 34, whose youthful demeanor and appearance belie his experience. The players responded [in Shostakovich’s Festive Overture] with a big, bright sound, particularly in the horns, and dexterous work in the strings and woodwinds. It was a brief but convincing display of outsized skills. The players handled [Wojciech Kilarʼs Orawa] with alacrity and poise, showing remarkable discipline and precision. Mitchell set a brisk pace for Pictures at an Exhibition, keeping the sound big rather than heavy. Overall the piece had a notably professional gloss, and finished with a satisfying sense of accomplishment. If their ambitious start with Mitchell is any indication, there’s an exciting two years ahead for players and audiences alike." To read the complete review, please click here.

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Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra navigates difficult scores with panache under new music director's baton"

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has published a review Brett Mitchell's first concert as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. "Mitchell introduced himself to Cleveland audiences Sunday afternoon at Severance Hall, when he led the ensemble in an imaginatively programmed concert that featured mostly modern music. It was a pleasure to hear the young musicians navigate this difficult music with such maturity, alert to internal balances and complex intonations and, thanks to Mitchell’s very clear baton, confident with Stravinsky’s [Symphonies of Wind Instruments] peculiar rhetoric throughout. COYO’s strings were nothing short of breathtaking throughout. They played with supreme confidence and technical brilliance, and Mitchell’s grasp of the score ensured that [Wojciech Kilar’s] Orawa...was the surprise hit of the concert. In [Pictures at an Exhibition], one could sense that certain passages were pushing the young players close to their limits... But such individual moments were easily overcome by the players’ youthful energy and commitment to the score – and Mitchell’s leadership assured that the overall result was artistically sound and, for the young players, a real triumph." To read the complete review, please click here.

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Review: ClevelandClassical.com praises Brett Mitchell's first performance as COYO Music Director

ClevelandClassical.com praised the "clear and crisp performances" delivered by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in their first concert under new music director Brett Mitchell. "A bright and chipper Festive Overture by Shostakovich opened the concert, revealing Mitchell to be a conductor full of charismatic energy and excitement as his enthusiasm prodded the musicians to exciting heights through sharp and precise gestures." Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition was "effectively played" with a "fine sense of contrast," by turns "confident, bold, reflective, contemplative, gnarly, haunting, playful, light, humorous, exciting, ominous, and spine-tingling... All the stops were pulled out as the COYO and Brett Mitchell played with a sense of arrival, mustering up all of the brilliance and grandeur needed to conclude Mussorgsky’s colorful work." To read the complete review, please click here.

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Profile: Cleveland Orchestra Insider introduces Brett Mitchell

The Cleveland Orchestra Insider has published an extensive profile of Brett Mitchell as he commences his appointments as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. To read this piece, please click here.

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Fall 2013 newsletter released

The Fall 2013 edition of Brett Mitchell's newsletter has been released. This edition highlights his new positions as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. To read (and for the option to subscribe), please click here.

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