NEWS
Video: Brett Mitchell previews the SBSO's "On the Road Again"
Brett Mitchell spoke with Katie O'Mara on this morning's "Better Mid-Michigan" about the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra's upcoming subscription performance, "On the Road Again," featuring works of Wojciech Kilar, Mendelssohn, Ravel, and Beethoven. To watch, please click here.
Brett Mitchell and The Cleveland Orchestra make critic's list of "Favorite Musical Events of 2014"
"Seen and Heard International" has heralded Brett Mitchell's last-minute substitution with The Cleveland Orchestra in July 2014 as one of their top musical events of 2014: "Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor Brett Mitchell also augured well for the future with a first-class performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Perhaps due to its familiarity, the piece is often given exaggerated performances or routine run-throughs, the one overstating the piece’s hidden messages, the other tossing it off as a noisy romp. Mitchell had its measure, catching details that almost every other conductor stomps over, yet doing so with emotion, life, and meaning." To read the complete article, please click here.
Brett Mitchell and The Cleveland Orchestra make critic's list of "Favorite Musical Events of 2014"
"Seen and Heard International" has heralded Brett Mitchell's last-minute substitution with The Cleveland Orchestra in July 2014 as one of their top musical events of 2014: "Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor Brett Mitchell also augured well for the future with a first-class performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. Perhaps due to its familiarity, the piece is often given exaggerated performances or routine run-throughs, the one overstating the piece’s hidden messages, the other tossing it off as a noisy romp. Mitchell had its measure, catching details that almost every other conductor stomps over, yet doing so with emotion, life, and meaning." To read the complete article, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra rises to the occasion in challenging season opener"
The Plain Dealer has published a review of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's first subscription concert of the 2014-15 season. "Music director Brett Mitchell programmed intense and difficult works by John Adams, Roy Harris and Peter Tchaikovsky, and it is to the players' credit that they rose to the occasion, achieving a sort of victory over music that might have defeated a less talented ensemble.... Mitchell drove the ensemble relentlessly through the fiery passages, using body language as well as stick technique to encourage the players to meet and exceed the music's demands. In the more lyric passages, he held back and let the players inhabit the music's florid shape." To read the complete review, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra at Severance Hall"
ClevelandClassical.com has published a review of the first subscription concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, praising music director Brett Mitchell's "well crafted choices for challenging the young musicians" that resulted in "a completely enjoyable evening of music." To read the complete review, please click here.
Audio: COYO interview (2014-15 season opener)
Brett Mitchell joined host Bill O'Connell on WCLV this afternoon to discuss the first subscription concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, featuring works of John Adams, Roy Harris, and Tchaikovsky. To hear this interview, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's plans for new season include tour of China"
The Plain Dealer has published a preview of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, which marks Brett Mitchell's second year as Music Director. The season--which opens on Sunday with a program of Adams, Harris, and Tchaikovsky--will conclude with a four-city tour of China in June 2015, marking the ensemble's first performances in Asia. To read this article, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra opens its season on Sunday, November 23"
ClevelandClassical.com has published a preview of the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, Brett Mitchell's second as Music Director. The season, which culminates with a four-city tour of China in June 2015, will also feature several other high-profile events, including a special performance to open the League of American Orchestras' annual conference in May 2015 in Cleveland. To read this article, please click here.
Preview: "Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra's season opener to feature former conductor Samuel Jones"
The Saginaw News has published a preview of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra's opening concert of the 2014-15 season, which marks the beginning of Brett Mitchell's fifth and final year as music director. Renowned composer Samuel Jones will return to Saginaw to attend a performance of his Elegy, a piece Jones himself premiered with the orchestra while serving as its fourth music director from 1962 to 1965. To read this article, please click here.
Fall 2014 newsletter released
The Fall 2014 edition of Brett Mitchell's newsletter has been released. This edition highlights Mr. Mitchell's recent last-minute debut at the Blossom Music Festival with The Cleveland Orchestra, a return engagement with the Detroit Symphony, a debut with the Columbus Symphony, and details about his 2014-15 season with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, and Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. To read or subscribe, please click here.
Return engagement with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
After a successful three-concert debut weekend with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in June 2014, Brett Mitchell has been engaged to return to the orchestra for an additional performance later this month. Mr. Mitchell will lead the DSO in works of Brahms, Mendelssohn, Bizet, and more at the Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center on Tuesday, October 14, 2014. For more information, please visit the SCHEDULE page above.
Interview during The Cleveland Orchestra's season-opening nationwide broadcast
Brett Mitchell will be host John Simna's guest for an interview during the intermission of The Cleveland Orchestra's first nationwide broadcast of the season. The orchestra's performance of works of Beethoven and Ravel this Saturday, October 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern will be broadcast live in Cleveland on WCLV 104.9 FM, and can be streamed worldwide at wclv.org.
COYO's 2015 MLK concert announced
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and music director Brett Mitchell will perform their annual free concert at Severance Hall on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, taking place this season on Monday, January 19, 2015. This year's repertoire includes works of Debussy, Ravel, Coleridge-Taylor, and Tchaikovsky. For more information, please click the "SCHEDULE" link above.
DEBUSSY - La mer: III. "Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea"
RAVEL - Une barque sur l'océan
TCHAIKOVSKY - Violin Concerto: III. Finale: Allegro vivacissimo (Jieming Tang, violin)
COLERIDGE-TAYLOR - African Suite: "Danse nègre"
TCHAIKOVSKY - Symphony No. 4: IV. Finale: Allegro con fuoco
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra lightens up with pops, family and holiday programs"
The Plain Dealer has released a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra's 2014-15 Youth Orchestra, family, and pops concert series, all three of which Brett Mitchell helps to lead this season. To read this article and learn more about these performances, please click here.
Debut with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra on April 16, 2015, leading a program of Jennifer Higdon's Peachtree Street, Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, and the 1919 suite from Stravinsky's The Firebird. For more information, please click here.
Brett Mitchell to play duo recital with Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Stephen Shipps
Brett Mitchell will play a duo recital with violinist Stephen Shipps, his concertmaster at the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. The performance will take place at the Saginaw Club at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 23, and will feature works of Provost, Korngold, Suk, and Williams. For more information, please click the "SCHEDULE" page above.
Preview: "Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra launches banner year with a few firsts and a final farewell"
The Saginaw News has published a preview of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra's 2014-15 season, "A Celebration of Excellence," which marks Brett Mitchell's fifth and final season as Music Director. To read this article, please click here.
Additional concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra has engaged Brett Mitchell to lead several additional concerts during their 2014-15 concert season. On March 4, 2015, Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra will perform a free community concert during their annual Miami residency. On March 15, 2015, Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra will perform works of Britten, Bernstein, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Bizet, Mozart, and Williams on their second family concert of the season at Severance Hall. For more information on both of these concerts, please click here.
Cover story: "Brett Mitchell: A Maestro of Musical Magic Comes Full Circle"
On the eve of his final season as Music Director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra, Brett Mitchell sits down with The Review to discuss the coming season and the high points of his five-year partnership with the orchestra.
"The Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra is poised to kick off their 2014-15 concert season upon an apex of creativity and critical acclaim cultivated largely through the insightful and innovative instincts of music director Brett Mitchell. Since the SBSO Board of Directors brought Mitchell on board back in 2010, he has consistently set the performance bar higher with each year of his tenure."
The article describes Mitchell as "beloved by an expansive and divergent array of artistic supporters throughout the region," in part because of the "forward momentum and the impressive legacy he has rendered over five short years." To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: "Musical Passions"
Brett Mitchell will join host Eric Kisch for the full hour of the September 20 episode of Musical Passions on WCLV Classical 104.9. Among other topics, Mr. Mitchell will discuss his relationship with the late Lorin Maazel, with whom he worked at the Castleton Festival in 2009 and 2010. To stream this broadcast live from anywhere in the world, please visit WCLV.org at 10 a.m. EDT.