NEWS
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra sets holiday bar higher with live 'Back to the Future' performance"
The Plain Dealer has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra's live performance of Back to the Future, presented last Thursday under the baton of Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell.
Every performance is demanding in its way, but the expertise and attention required in "Back to the Future" were exceptional. Likely the intermission that broke up the show wasn't for the audience so much as the orchestra and associate conductor Brett Mitchell, who faced and rose to a marathon task of concentration and precision...
The presentation as a whole was powerfully immersive, boasting a visceral, immediate quality no sound system on Earth could replicate. Dolby stereo was still cutting-edge 30 years ago, when the film premiered. On Thursday, however, old-fashioned orchestra instruments handily trumped technology.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Video: Brett Mitchell discusses upcoming Cleveland Orchestra performances on Cleveland 19 News
Brett Mitchell appeared on this morning's Cleveland 19 News (CBS) to discuss The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming performances of Back to the Future and Home Alone. To watch this interview, please click here.
Previews: Cleveland Orchestra "At the Movies"
Cleveland Scene and Cool Cleveland have listed two of Brett Mitchell's upcoming performances with The Cleveland Orchestra as must-see events this holiday season. To read the article in Cleveland Scene about Back to the Future, please click here. To read the article in Cool Cleveland about Home Alone, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses upcoming Cleveland Orchestra concerts on Majic 105.7
Brett Mitchell appeared this morning on Majic 105.7 to discuss The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming performances of Back to the Future and Home Alone. To hear this interview, please click here, then advance the player to 58:22. (Please note that an iHeartRadio account is required.)
Reviews: "Violins of Hope" with The Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Classical and Cleveland Jewish News have both published reviews of The Cleveland Orchestra's recent "Violins of Hope" education concerts, programmed and conducted by Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell. These "six engaging, hour-long concerts that unflinchingly presented the events of the Holocaust in music, mime, and words," were presented at Severance Hall throughout the first week of December. According to Cleveland Classical,
It was completely evident in its playing on Thursday that The Cleveland Orchestra puts as much care into its school performances as it does into its subscription series and international tours. This well designed, expertly acted, and excellently played concert was informative, and held its audience in rapt attention without the need for video or any other technological gimmicks. Human voices and instruments in the hands of dedicated musicians were all that were needed.
To read the review in Cleveland Classical, please click here. To read the review in Cleveland Jewish News, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra expects 'Back to the Future' show to be blast from the past"
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming performance of Back to the Future, featuring Alan Silvestri's classic score led by Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell.
The Cleveland Orchestra isn't taking on "Back to the Future" because it's a cult classic or the year 2015 figures into its plot. It's playing the film because, like the soundtracks to "Psycho," "Fantasia" and others, the score by Alan Silvestri is genuinely worth playing. "The greatness of the music matters to us," Mitchell explained. "If you look at the caliber of projects we've chosen to do lately, you see we consider films only if the music in them is also great."
To read the complete preview, please click here. To purchase tickets to the event, presented this Thursday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Severance Hall, please click here.
New Year's Eve with the Houston Symphony
Brett Mitchell will return to the Houston Symphony later this month to conduct their New Year's Eve gala program, an event he has led annually dating back to his tenure as the orchestra's Assistant Conductor from 2007 to 2011. For more information on this year's program and to purchase tickets, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra tackles tough scores with flair on season opener"
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of the first subscription concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2015-16 season, led by music director Brett Mitchell:
One of the hallmarks of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra over the years has been the willingness to tackle difficult but rewarding repertoire outside the bounds of the usual middle-European fare of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.
Music Director Brett Mitchell has continued that tradition during his tenure with the orchestra, with commendable results. Nowhere was this more evident than in COYO's season opener Sunday night at Severance Hall, which featured, in addition to Schumann's "Rhenish" Symphony, a 2004 orchestral essay by contemporary American composer Kevin Puts titled "River's Rush" and the moving "Jeremiah Symphony" Symphony No. 1 by Bernstein....
COYO was supremely impressive in ["River's Rush"], which makes no outsized demands on individual players' technique, but challenges the group's ensemble playing to a great degree. The orchestra charged confidently into the ten-minute score, playing with commitment and style. Mitchell gave them everything they needed from the podium to keep this protean music on track to its monumental finish.
Bernstein's first symphony, like much of his concert music, is no longer encountered in the concert hall with the frequency it once enjoyed. COYO's performance Sunday made a strong case for its return to regular repertoire, with a first-rate reading...
The young players of COYO fitted themselves with surprising artistry into the somber score. They were especially strong in the middle movement, "Profanation," a wild dance that made great demands on their unity as an ensemble.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Audio: Intermission interview on WCLV
Brett Mitchell spoke with host Robert Conrad during the intermission of WCLV's live broadcast of yesterday's Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra concert, the first of their 2015-16 season. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell previews the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's first concert of the season on WCLV
Brett Mitchell joined host Bill O'Connell on WCLV this afternoon to discuss the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 30th season, presented this Sunday evening at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra remains ambitious, enthusiastic going into 2015-16 season"
"Just try not to be impressed when the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra kicks off a new year Sunday night at Severance Hall."
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published an article previewing the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's first subscription concert of the 2015-16 season, featuring works of Kevin Puts, Leonard Bernstein, and Robert Schumann.
In an interview for this article, Brett Mitchell shared his thoughts about the current state of the orchestra at the outset of his third season as its music director: "The quality of the ensemble continues to go up and up. It's been a long line of gradually raising the bar and expectations. If you give a group a smart challenge, and help them execute it, the result will be so much more fulfilling than if you just play it safe."
Peppered throughout with references to the group's ambition, enthusiasm, "high standards," and "unrelenting appetite," the article details Sunday evening's program, and previews the remainder of the orchestra's 2015-16 season.
To read the article, please click here.
Preview: "The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra Performs at Severance Hall"
Cool Cleveland has published a preview of the first subscription concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2015-16 season, led by music director Brett Mitchell. The concert, which will be held this Sunday, November 22, at 8 p.m. at Severance Hall, will feature works by Kevin Puts, Leonard Bernstein, and Robert Schumann. To read this article, please click here.
Video: "MDCPS Students Treated to Cleveland Orchestra Concert"
NBC's Miami affiliate, WTVJ 6, has aired a story about The Cleveland Orchestra's recent education concerts at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell. To view this story, including footage from the performances, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra Miami warming up for special 10th anniversary season"
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra's 10th anniversary season in Miami. Discussing the orchestra's Miami residency, Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell says, "It is quite literally our second home. We've really translated it into a second home, complete with another family."
Commenting on the pair of education programs he will conduct this season for several thousand students from around south Florida, Mr. Mitchell added, "Projects like this can be so fulfilling. Any time I get to interact with young people about music, what more could I want? That's why I went into this, to share this great music."
To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra's 'At the Movies' includes 'Back to the Future'"
The Hudson Hub-Times (Ohio) has published an article previewing The Cleveland Orchestra's 2015-16 "At the Movies" series, which includes two productions led by Associate Conductor Brett Mitchell: Alan Silvestri's score for Back to the Future on Thursday, December 10, and John Williams's score for Home Alone on Wednesday, December 16. To read this article, please click here.
Broadcast schedule announced for Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2015-16 season
WCLV 104.9 FM has announced that it will present live broadcasts of each of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2015-16 Severance Hall subscription concerts, followed by several rebroadcasts throughout the season. All broadcasts will be streamed live at WCLV.org. Complete broadcast schedule:
CONCERT 1
Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 8 p.m. (LIVE BROADCAST)
Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 4 p.m.
Sunday, August 28, 2015 at 4 p.m.
CONCERT 2
Friday, March 4, 2016 at 8 p.m. (LIVE BROADCAST)
Sunday, June 5, 2016 at 4 p.m.
Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 8 p.m.
CONCERT 3
Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 3 p.m. (LIVE BROADCAST)
Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 4 p.m.
Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 8 p.m.
There will also be a special rebroadcast of a performance from the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2014-15 season on Sunday, January 10, 2016 at 4 p.m. On the program are Ravel's Une barque sur l'océan, Debussy's La mer, and Fauré's Requiem with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, soprano Marian Vogel, and baritone Nikola Budimir.
Brett Mitchell to lead selections from Wagner's "Ring" with Washington All-State Symphony Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will lead selections from Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung with the 150-member Washington All-State Symphony Orchestra on February 14, 2016, at the Capitol Theatre in Yakima, Washington. The performance will begin with "Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walküre, followed by "Forest Murmurs" from Siegfried, and will conclude with "Siegfried's Funeral Music" and "Brünnhilde's Immolation" from Götterdämmerung. For more information and to purchase tickets for this event, please click here.
Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in "Symphony Magazine"
The Fall 2015 issue of Symphony Magazine features a synopsis of the League of American Orchestras' 2015 conference, highlighting the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's performance of works of Tchaikovsky and Saint-Saëns at the opening session: "The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra (COYO), conductor Brett Mitchell, and cellist Alisa Weilerstein, a COYO member from 1992 to 1994, were also featured in the opening session." To read the complete article, please click here.
Audio: 100th episode of "Classical Classroom"
Brett Mitchell is among an extensive roster of guests returning to Houston Public Media's Classical Classroom to celebrate the show's 100th episode. In this clip, Mitchell reminisces with host Dacia Clay about his first appearance on the program in April 2013. (To hear that original episode, in which Mitchell discusses John Williams's use of leitmotifs in his score for Star Wars, please click here.)
Preview: "Your guide to Cleveland Orchestra pops and youth concerts: 2015 Classical Music and Dance preview"
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published an article previewing The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's wide range of popular, family, holiday, and children's concerts throughout the 2015-16 Severance Hall season, many of which will be conducted by Brett Mitchell. To read this article, please click here.