Video: Interview from Beijing's Tiananmen Square

David Burnett interviews Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra music director Brett Mitchell in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on the morning of the ensemble's first performance of their four-city tour of China. To view this video, please click here.

Review: Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra performs at League of American Orchestras conference

ClevelandClassical has published a synopsis of the League of American Orchestras' annual conference held in Cleveland in May 2015, including a brief review of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's performance at its opening session. "On the first day, attendees trekked across the street from the Convention Center to Public Auditorium for the welcoming session and concert. Brett Mitchell led cellist Alisa Weilerstein and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in a polished performance of Saint-Saëns’s 'The Swan' and a rambunctious interpretation of the Finale from Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. Weilerstein, an alumna of the youth orchestra, performed as principal cellist during the Tchaikovsky." To read the complete story, please click here.

Brett Mitchell receives commendations from Cleveland mayor and Confucius Institute

At this afternoon's send-off concert at Severance Hall, Brett Mitchell received commendations from Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson and the Confucius Institute in recognition of his upcoming four-city tour of China with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. Mayor Jackson's commendation states in part, "I invite all citizens to join me in thanking Mr. Mitchell for his continuous efforts to promote cultural exchange and for being a positive role model for Cleveland Youth." The Confucius Institute's commendation was presented "in appreciation for your continuous efforts in promoting people-to-people friendship and cultural exchanges."

Profile: "Note Giver: Conductor Brett Mitchell wants to experience music with you"

Cleveland Magazine has published a profile of Brett Mitchell in their June 2015 issue, chronicling his 35-year musical journey from jazz and pop roots in his hometown of Seattle to being named The Cleveland Orchestra's first Associate Conductor in more than three decades.

Brett Mitchell wants to share—no, needs to share—the music he hears. "I find music, that for one reason or another, moves me, touches me," he says. "I share that with as many people as I can." Gregarious and often dramatic, Mitchell plays the piano as effortlessly as he talks, often falling into song as a soundtrack to demonstrate his point. Simply talking about the act of conducting, Mitchell often motions with his hands as if he's channeling energy to his musicians, who then transmit that force back out to the audience. Without all the necessary components, his desire to spread music falls flat. "You want to watch me do my job without musicians?" he says with a laugh. "It's just me moving my arms. That's sad and weird and creepy."

To read the complete story, please click here.

Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra embarks for China"

Vivian Goodman of NPR affiliate WKSU has produced a preview of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's upcoming four-city tour of China, featuring interviews with music director Brett Mitchell, League of American Orchestras president Jesse Rosen, and several COYO musicians. To read and hear this story, please click here.

Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra looks to draw closer on upcoming tour of China"

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a story about the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's upcoming four-city tour of China, led by music director Brett Mitchell. COYO's second international tour—and its first to Asia—will feature performances of works by Shostakovich, Kilar, Barber, and Tchaikovsky in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Ningbo from June 15 to 24. The tour will launch with a send-off concert at Severance Hall on Sunday, June 14, which will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. Eastern on WCLV.org.

COYO send-off concert named among "Five Classical Music Events Not to Miss This Week"

Cleveland Scene has named the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's China tour send-off concert on Sunday, June 14 as one of "Five Classical Music Events Not to Miss This Week". The event is now sold-out, but may be streamed live on WCLV.org at 3 p.m. Eastern.

"Cleveland proves gracious host of 2015 League of American Orchestras conference"

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a story about the success of the League of American Orchestras' 2015 annual conference, held last week in Cleveland. The article credits a Brett Mitchell-led performance with "rounding out the portrait of a vital musical city. On Wednesday, during the conference's opening session, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra under Brett Mitchell regaled a large crowd with the Finale of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and 'The Swan' from Saint-Saëns's The Carnival of the Animals with star cellist (and COYO alum) Alisa Weilerstein." The article features a photo of Mr. Mitchell, Ms. Weilerstein, and the orchestra at this performance. To view this photo and read the complete article, please click here.

Debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in a series of concerts in June and July 2015. The programs will feature works of Bernstein, Copland, Wagner, Gershwin, Williams, and Ives. For more information about these performances, please visit our SCHEDULE page.

Brett Mitchell receives contract extension and promotion with The Cleveland Orchestra

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced an extension of Brett Mitchell's contract for two years through the 2016-17 season. After serving for two years as Assistant Conductor (2013-15), Mr. Mitchell's title will be elevated to Associate Conductor at the start of the 2015-16 season. He will become the first person to hold that title with the Orchestra in over three decades, and only the fifth in its 98-season history. A concurrent agreement extends Mr. Mitchell’s work as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra through the same period. To learn more, please visit the following links:

• Official press release from The Cleveland Orchestra: "The Cleveland Orchestra extends Brett Mitchell's contract as conductor through 2016-17 season"
• Article in The Plain Dealer: "Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor Brett Mitchell lands contract extension and promotion"
• Article in Crain's Cleveland Business: "Cleveland Orchestra gives conductor a two-year contract extension"
• Article in Broadway World: "Brett Mitchell extends contract with Cleveland Orchestra through 2016-17 season"

Banner season for Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra reaches local, national, and international audiences

Following the conclusion of a successful 2014-15 Severance Hall season on May 3, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO) will make a nine-day, four-concert tour to China June 15-24, 2015. These performances mark the Youth Orchestra’s second international tour in its 29-year history. The tour includes performances in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Ningbo, featuring Shostakovich’s Festive Overture, Kilar’s Orawa, Barber’s Medea’s Dance of Vengeance, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. On June 14, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at Severance Hall, COYO will present a free China tour send-off concert. WCLV 104.9 FM will broadcast the send-off performance live; it can also be streamed online at WCLV.org.

On the occasion of the League of American Orchestras’ 2015 Conference, held in Cleveland May 27-29, COYO alumna and world-renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein makes a special appearance with COYO as part of the conference’s Opening Session concert on May 27 at Public Auditorium. The program features Weilerstein performing Saint-Saëns’s “The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals, and she joins the Youth Orchestra for a performance of the final movement of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. Weilerstein was a member of COYO from 1992 to 1994.

To learn more about these performances, please visit the following links:

• Official press release from The Cleveland Orchestra: "Banner season for Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra reaches local, national, and international audiences"
• Article in Broadway World: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra to Launch China Tour and More This Summer"

Alisa Weilerstein to perform with Brett Mitchell and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra

The League of American Orchestras has announced that internationally renowned cellist Alisa Weilerstein will join the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and music director Brett Mitchell for a special performance at the opening session of their annual conference later this month in Cleveland.

An alumna of COYO, Ms. Weilerstein will open the event with a performance of The Swan by Camille Saint-Saëns, accompanied by Mr. Mitchell and the orchestra. She will then return to COYO's cello section for the first time in over twenty years for a performance of the finale of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, one of four works the orchestra will play on their four-city tour of China in June 2015.

This performance is free to all conference attendees, and will take place on Wednesday, May 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Music Hall at the Cleveland Public Auditorium. For more information, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra does its namesake proud on season finale"

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of the final concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, its second under the leadership of music director Brett Mitchell:

So polished, so mature were the performances Sunday night at Severance Hall by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, even their namesake's most discriminating audience would have fallen under their sway. Hand it to Brett Mitchell, the group's director. Even as he rightly praised parents and teachers for bringing up musical teenagers, the assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra also could have taken credit himself for turning a band of skilled individuals into a disciplined, cohesive ensemble.

Barber's Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance...enabled the ensemble to demonstrate the full range of its abilities. The Meditation revealed its dark, mysterious side while the Dance, a frenetic romp, proved just how unified and purposeful 100 players can sound.

Again and again, the orchestra under Mitchell captured the essence of a work known to daunt professionals [Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra]. Every technical challenge Bartók threw at them, the musicians hurdled like Olympians. As the music screamed and sang, laughed and roared, so did the orchestra, with all possible vigor and precision.

Too bad Sunday was COYO's season finale. At this point, the group could do just about anything.

 To read the complete review, please click here.

Audio: COYO interview (May 2015 concert)

Brett Mitchell joined host Jacqueline Gerber on WCLV this morning to discuss the final concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season, featuring Barber's Medea's Dance of Vengeance, Kabalevsky's Cello Concerto No. 1 with soloist Henry Shapard, and the orchestra's first-ever performance of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. To hear this interview, please click here.

Preview: "Music from 'Psycho' part of Saginaw Bay Chamber Orchestra's 'Russian Tales' concert"

The Saginaw News has published a preview of the Saginaw Bay Chamber Orchestra's upcoming season finale, which mark Brett Mitchell's final concerts as music director of the ensemble's parent organization, the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. The performances—taking place on Sunday, April 19 at the State Theatre in Bay City (3 p.m.) and the Bronner Performing Arts Center in Frankenmuth (7:30 p.m.)—will feature a suite from Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho, Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. To read this article, please click here.

Video: "Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor releases blooper reel from tenure with Saginaw Bay Symphony"

"Nothing you say on-camera ever truly disappears. Especially not if it's funny, and you're a conductor," writes the Cleveland Plain Dealer about a newly released blooper reel from Brett Mitchell's five-season tenure as music director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra. To read the complete story, please click here. Norman Lebrecht has also picked up the story on Slipped Disc: "A conductor releases his worst TV moments." To view the original video on YouTube, please click here.

Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's China tour send-off performance to be broadcast live

WCLV 104.9 FM has announced that it will broadcast the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's send-off performance before upcoming their four-city tour of China in June 2015. This concert will be broadcast live from Severance Hall on Sunday, June 14 at 3 p.m. EDT, and may be streamed live at WCLV.org.

Preview: Debut with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Broadway World has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming debut with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, which will feature works of Jennifer Higdon, Schubert, and Stravinsky on Thursday, April 16. To read this article, please click here.

Video: "Farewell, Maestro"

Brett Mitchell spoke with Sarah Jaeger on this morning's "Better Mid-Michigan" about this weekend's Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra concert, "A Grand Farewell," which marks Mr. Mitchell's final performance as music director after five seasons at the helm of the orchestra. To watch, please click here.

Preview: Brett Mitchell returns to podium for Cleveland Orchestra's 2015-16 Miami residency

The Cleveland Orchestra has announced details for the 10th-anniversary season of their annual residency in Miami in 2015-16, including several education concerts led by Brett Mitchell in November 2015. For more details, please read this preview in the Plain Dealer (Cleveland).