NEWS
Preview: Brett Mitchell and the Colorado Symphony welcome composer Kevin Puts
Kevin Puts will attend the second night of the Colorado Symphony's performance of Symphony No. 2 under the baton of Music Director Designate Brett Mitchell. (Photo by David White)
Westword (Denver) has published an interview with composer Kevin Puts in advance of the Colorado Symphony's performances of his Second Symphony this weekend under the baton of Music Director Designate Brett Mitchell:
What happens when you juxtapose Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, an orchestral masterpiece whose sublime grandeur seems impossible to rival, with contemporary composer Kevin Puts's much gentler (albeit not that gentle) Symphony No. 2, a modern orchestral work written in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks?
Audiences will find out tonight, January 27, and tomorrow, January 28, when the Colorado Symphony performs both, conducted by Music Director Designate Brett Mitchell....
[Kevin Puts:] "The orchestral world tends to be very backward-looking. The thing is, [Colorado Symphony Music Director Designate] Brett Mitchell, who I've known for quite some time, he and I love works of the past. We'll sit there, talking and playing them on the piano for each other for hours. I'm most interested in what is possible today, what can be said today, the music that hasn't been written yet or that is being written right now. Brett is a real advocate for new music. It's not something he just thinks he should do. He really believes it."
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Colorado Symphony Launches Its Own Label, Details First Release"
Brett Mitchell conducts the Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall in December 2016. (Photo by Brandon Marshall)
Colorado Public Radio has published an article about the Colorado Symphony's announcement of the launch of its own record label:
The Colorado Symphony today announced the immediate release of its new album, a recording of the orchestra and its chorus performing Beethoven's beloved Symphony No. 9.
The album release itself was a surprise, but so was the distribution plan. The orchestra issued it as a digital download and on CD under a new label called Colorado Symphony Multimedia & Recording. (Naxos of America will help distribute the music.)
The move puts the Denver orchestra in a league with the Seattle Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and other major ensembles that run their own record labels....
Listeners get another chance to hear Beethoven's Ninth played live by the symphony next Friday and Saturday with conductor Brett Mitchell, who assumes the role of music director this fall.
To read the complete article, please click here.
"Cleveland Orchestra gets right down to business on first full day of Indiana University residency"
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Indiana University orchestras in Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration on Wednesday, January 18. (Photo by Justin Holden)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a story about The Cleveland Orchestra's residency at Indiana University, the first of three stops on their 2017 Midwest Tour:
A sizable portion of the group finished up at 8:30 p.m., after an evening side-by-side rehearsal with student musicians. Over this impactful event, associate conductor Brett Mitchell presided efficiently, leading the large combined orchestra through Strauss' "Death and Transfiguration" while also giving the Cleveland musicians time to work with students in their sections individually.
To read the complete story, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra planning brief but high-impact tour of the Midwest"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Indiana University orchestras in Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration next week in Bloomington. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra's upcoming Midwest tour, during which "associate conductor Brett Mitchell will preside over perhaps the most valuable offerings, two side-by-side rehearsals" of Richard Strauss's Death and Transfiguration with the Indiana University orchestras. To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: "For 2017 Grant Park Music Festival, music and finances join in sunny harmony"
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Grant Park Orchestra in July 2017 with a program of Kenji Bunch, Saint-Saëns, and Copland.
The Chicago Tribune has published a preview of the Grant Park Music Festival's 2017 season, including details about Brett Mitchell's debut with the Grant Park Orchestra:
Classical buffs have long appreciated Grant Park as a place to discover conductors who are creating buzz in the outside music world but, for one reason or another, have not been heard in Chicago. Three such podium debuts are highly anticipated this summer — those of Fawzi Haimor, Simone Young and Brett Mitchell....
Mitchell, associate conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and music director of its youth orchestra, will become the fourth music director of the Colorado Symphony beginning this fall. He will make his Grant Park bow July 19 with a program of Copland, Bunch and Saint-Saëns.
To read the complete article, please click here. To read an additional article in Chicago Classical Review, please click here.
Debut with the Grant Park Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Grant Park Orchestra in July 2017 with a program of Kenji Bunch, Saint-Saëns, and Copland.
Brett Mitchell will make his debut with the Grant Park Orchestra on Wednesday, July 19 during the 2017 Grant Park Music Festival, the organization announced on Wednesday:
Conductor Brett Mitchell leads the orchestra and rising star Angelo Xiang Yu in Saint-Saëns' romantic Violin Concerto No. 3. The evening opens with Kenji Bunch's uplifting Supermaximum and closes with The Red Pony, Aaron Copland's film score adapted from the John Steinbeck 1933 novella.
To learn more, please visit the following links:
Preview: "Brett Mitchell’s big CSO moment"
Brett Mitchell begins a four-year tenure as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in 2017.
The Denver Post has published a list of "10 Denver arts and culture events to look forward to in 2017," which includes Brett Mitchell's inaugural concert as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony on Saturday, September 9:
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra welcomes its new music director, Brett Mitchell, with a showy kickoff, a season-starting concert featuring opera superstar Renée Fleming as the special guest. All eyes, and ears, will be on Mitchell, who at just 37, was hired to replace Andrew Litton this year, becoming one of the youngest maestros to lead a major orchestra.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Year in review: "The Colorado Symphony finds its next maestro"
Brett Mitchell, who will become music director of the Colorado Symphony in 2017, leading the Cleveland Orchestra in concert. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Colorado Public Radio has listed Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony as the top classical music story of 2016:
The next music director of the Colorado Symphony is in his mid-30s, comes from the Cleveland Orchestra and fell in love with orchestral music partly because of John Williams’ film scores. Brett Mitchell will lead the symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall for [four] years beginning in September 2017. He replaces Andrew Litton, who left the symphony to take the helm of the New York City Ballet. Get to know Mitchell through our in-depth interview.
Also included in this article is an audio retrospective, transcribed below:
Mitchell: Even the very best orchestras and the very best conductors, sometimes when they get together, it just doesn't quite gel. But from the very first downbeat of our first rehearsal, the Colorado Symphony and I seemed to just hit it off gangbusters, so I couldn't have been more thrilled to get the call.
Announcer: It was a bit like love at first sight. After the Colorado Symphony announced a reduced role for music director Andrew Litton, the search began for a new music director, and one who would hopefully live in Denver and be here for a long time. Brett Mitchell conducted the orchestra this past summer. It was a concert of season previews for the upcoming season, and that's all it took before everyone gave the partnership a big thumbs-up.
Mitchell: The thing that the Colorado Symphony does so well that I experienced on the performance that we gave together back in July: There were ten little pieces in all of these different styles, and it was just amazing to me how easily the Colorado Symphony was able to shift between the styles of Richard Strauss and then Beethoven and then Brahms, but then also John Williams and Leroy Anderson. There's no weak spot in the Colorado Symphony's repertory, so that means that the kind of dreaming I can do in terms of what we're able to program is just totally unlimited, and that's very exciting to somebody that has as diverse a musical background as I do.
To read the complete article and listen to this retrospective, please click here.
Year in review: Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra included in list of top ten performances of 2016
Brett Mitchell leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall in November 2016. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published its annual year-end review of the top ten concerts of 2016, which includes for the first time a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra under the baton of music director Brett Mitchell:
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra had a watershed moment this fall. With caring oversight by music director (and Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor) Brett Mitchell, the ensemble undertook and successfully performed its first Bruckner symphony, the mammoth Symphony No. 4. That's not all. On the same jaw-dropping program, in November, the group also carried off the world premiere of "Fountain of Youth," an evocative and remarkably apt work by Roger Briggs, Mitchell's former teacher.
To read the complete article, please click here.
Preview: "Cleveland Orchestra releases MLK Celebration Concert program and free ticket information"
Brett Mitchell will lead the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in a special performance commemorating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, January 16. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a preview of The Cleveland Orchestra's 2017 MLK celebrations:
In continued celebration of MLK, the orchestra also will hold a free open house from noon to 5 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 16. Look and listen for performances by...the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, with conductor Brett Mitchell.
To read the complete preview, please click here. To read an additional preview in Cleveland Scene, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra provides wonderful time with 'It's a Wonderful Life' film concert"
Brett Mitchell led two performances of Dmitri Tiomkin's score for It's a Wonderful Life with The Cleveland Orchestra on Dec. 8 and 9 at Severance Hall.
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra's performances of It's a Wonderful Life:
Associate conductor Brett Mitchell led a massive orchestra, augmented by what seemed like close to a hundred angelic voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, in Dmitri Tiomkin's original score for the movie....
It hardly needs to be said that the Cleveland Orchestra sounded fantastic in this context. The youthful purity of the voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, however, added an exquisite note to the presentation -- much more heavenly than any of the Hollywood choruses available in the 1940s.
One felicitous touch was CineConcerts' decision to add subtitles to the movie, which meant that Mitchell and his forces were free to unleash waves of full fortissimo sound when called for, so that while dialogue was occasionally obscured, the sense of the story was never lost....
[Tiomkin] also called for a number of popular dance-band sequences, and it was a delight to hear the Cleveland Orchestra fit itself quite naturally into that mode. Their rendering of the Charleston in the graduation party sequence was as authentic as one could want.
The last segment of the film, the harrowing, Dickens-inspired sequence when angel Clarence vividly demonstrates how crucial George Bailey's life was to Bedford Falls and the well-being of its inhabitants, features the score's most dramatic passages, and Mitchell unleashed the orchestra's full force to devastating effect.
The happy ending was a glorious confection of musical holiday cheer, with the orchestra at its most sparkly and the ethereal voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus going a long way to elicit a surge of emotion in the audience, which burst into sustained applause before the final credits had begun to roll.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Christmas Concert heads down merry pops path in 2016"
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Choruses in their 2016 Christmas Concerts. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts, led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell:
Gone away, for now, are certain old traditions. Here to stay, this season, are a few new ones.
Yes, the Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts stand apart from those of yore. With associate conductor Brett Mitchell on the podium in lieu of choral director Robert Porco, the program now running exudes a decidedly jaunty, lighthearted air....
Mitchell, for certain, proves an able and amusing host. Between numbers he offers not only interesting musical trivia but also a ready supply of jokes. He also engages Santa in witty banter and presides over the solo singings of "Five Gold Rings" with Porco-like aplomb, being kind to children but slaying an adult rendition with "That's terrible!"
No qualms about the professional singing or playing. At last Saturday's matinee concert, the combined Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and University of Akron Chamber Choir sounded lovely, especially in a poignant performance of "Oh, Holy Night" and the encore singing of "Silent Night." The orchestra, too, was in fine form throughout, hitting its stride right off the bat in James Beckel's sparkling "A Christmas Fanfare." ...
Perhaps the nicest twist was the involvement of Santa in concert. After teasing Mitchell about his youth and delivering a few zingers about the Browns and the election, the actor turned around Saturday and narrated "Twas the Night Before Christmas," joining the orchestra in a welcome and animated telling of his own story.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Audio: "Spend the holidays with The Cleveland Orchestra"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Choruses in their 2016 Christmas Concerts. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts, presented from December 10 through 18 at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses "It's a Wonderful Life" with The Cleveland Orchestra
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Dmitri Tiomkin's score for It's a Wonderful Life at Severance Hall on December 8 and 9 as part of its 2016 holiday festival.
Brett Mitchell spoke with WCLV Classical 104.9's Bill O'Connell about his performances with The Cleveland Orchestra of Dmitri Tiomkin's score for It's a Wonderful Life on December 8 and 9 at Severance Hall. To hear this interview, please click here.
Preview: "The Cleveland Orchestra and local choruses roll out the carols at Severance Hall"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 holiday festival at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Cool Cleveland has published a preview of Brett Mitchell's upcoming holiday concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra:
For much of this month, Severance Hall will be filled with the strains of carols as the Cleveland Orchestra brings back its annual holiday concerts for 10 performances.
Associate conductor Brett Mitchell conducts a stage full of mighty musical firepower, including the Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and, on different nights, the Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus Chamber Ensemble, the College of Wooster Chorus and the University of Akron Concert Choir, in an evening of familiar holiday music. You will be invited to sing along — with the Cleveland Orchestra! There will be a “surprise visitor.” Gee, I wonder who that would be. Hint: it won’t be the ghost of George Szell.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Preview: "The orchestra does 'It's a Wonderful Life' and 8 more classical music events to hit this week"
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra in Dmitri Tiomkin's score for It's a Wonderful Life on December 8 and 9 at Severance Hall.
Cleveland Scene has published a brief preview of Brett Mitchell's performances with The Cleveland Orchestra this weekend:
Last week, The Cleveland Orchestra gave you George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker in Playhouse Square. This week, the ensemble returns to Severance Hall to crank up more Christmas activities: two screenings of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life on Thursday and Friday, December 8 and 9 at 7:30 pm, and ten Christmas Concerts beginning on Saturday afternoon, December 10 and running through Sunday evening, December 18 will all be led by the busy associate conductor Brett Mitchell. The Orchestra’s Youth Chorus joins in for the movies, and all the Severance Hall choruses, plus guests, will raise their voices for the holiday fare. Tickets can be ordered online.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra sublime..."
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in The Nutcracker on Wednesday, Nov. 30. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Broadway World has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:
One thing [previous productions led by former Cleveland Ballet artistic director Dennis Nahat] didn't have was the Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of Brett Mitchell, playing Tchaikovsky's glorious, pulse-increasing music. The Pennsylvania Ballet was blessed with the sound of the world-class musicians, normally housed in Severance Hall or taking much-praised journeys to Miami Beach and Europe. Nahat also didn't have the angelic voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, to create the vocal segments of the score. Yes, the musical segments of the evening were sublime, gorgeous.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Review: "'The Nutcracker' returns to life in vibrant Cleveland Orchestra, PA Ballet production"
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, and Pennsylvania Ballet in The Nutcracker on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The run of seven performances extends through Sunday, Dec. 4. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:
Like its title character after he's been brought to life, Pennsylvania Ballet's production of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" with the Cleveland Orchestra has a heart. A real, warm, beating heart.
No pall here of routine, of anyone going through the motions. Beyond the splendorous sets, costumes, and staging effects, from the top of the cast to the bottom, their account of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece exudes sincerity, the sense of artists enjoying themselves and actively striving to put on a good show.
And a good show it is. Whether one attends "The Nutcracker" for the dancing, the music, or simply the spectacle, this production, unveiled Wednesday night in the State Theatre at Playhouse Square, is almost certain to satisfy, to renew one's respect and love for the ballet....
Despite less-than-flattering acoustics in the pit, the Cleveland Orchestra under associate conductor Brett Mitchell manages to supply that special magic only live music can, all the while demonstrating supreme agility in response to the action on stage. Through Mitchell, in fact, the music lines up with the dancers exactly.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: Bruckner and a Briggs premiere"
Music Director Brett Mitchell leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in performance at Severance Hall on Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
ClevelandClassical has published a review of the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 subscription season, led by music director Brett Mitchell:
Since taking the helm of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Brett Mitchell has continued the long tradition of challenging the first-rate ensemble to achieve higher artistic standards with each program. On November 18 at Severance Hall, Mitchell and his young musicians took on what was arguably the most demanding program of his tenure, and the results were stellar.
The evening began with the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth....
Drawing a full, clear sound from his players, who were at the top of their game from beginning to end, Mitchell led an energetic, rhythmically secure performance of the captivating eighteen-minute tone-poem. The audience and the orchestra cheered as Roger Briggs came on stage to take a bow. It was a pleasure to be introduced to Briggs’s music and hopefully we will hear more of it in the future.
Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”) is a monumental work that requires an orchestra to have a mature understanding of large ensemble playing, individual musical prowess, and — with a duration of 65 minutes — a concentration level not often required of a youth orchestra. However, Mitchell and the Orchestra proved they were more than up to the task during their impressive performance...
Mitchell’s pacing of the opening “Bewegt, nicht zu schnell,” allowed the music to breathe, and never become stagnant. The strings sounded full-bodied, never tiring during the movement’s long phrases, and the winds and brass played with a warmth that was never overpowering.
Mitchell led a nuanced Andante, and the cellos and violas produced beautiful section solos.... The Orchestra unleashed a huge sound during the Finale. Here too, Mitchell’s thoughtful pacing, combined with subtle tempo changes, kept the very long movement sounding fresh and captivating. This was a spectacular performance, and the large audience showed their appreciation with an immediate and long ovation.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Review: "Cleveland Orchestra & Pennsylvania Ballet: 'George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker'"
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in The Nutcracker on Wednesday, Nov. 30. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
ClevelandClassical has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:
Holding all this choreography in a warm embrace was Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s evocative score, expertly played by The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor Brett Mitchell led a finely-paced performance... Flutes sounded wonderful in the Mirliton, horns splendid in the Waltz of the Flowers, and Tchaikovsky’s addition of a new instrument, the celesta, added the requisite sparkle to the Sugarplum Fairy, courtesy of Joela Jones. Balanchine’s own innovation, tucking in an violin solo interlude from The Sleeping Beauty into the end of the first act, slowed the flow of the show, though concertmaster William Preucil played it beautifully on Wednesday....
This excellent production by Pennsylvania Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra is a delectable show that will brighten anybody’s holiday season. Don’t miss it.
To read the complete review, please click here.