NEWS
Preview: ‘Pasadena Symphony Launches 97th Season with Debut of New Music Director Brett Mitchell’
Brett Mitchell will lead his opening concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony on Saturday, October 26 at the Ambassador Auditorium.
PASADENA — Broadway World has published a preview of the inaugural program of Brett Mitchell’s tenure as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony:
Pasadena Symphony launches its 2024-25 season and a new era under Music Director Brett Mitchell – only the sixth music director to lead the orchestra since it was founded in 1928 – with a program filled with symbolism on Saturday, October 26, 2024, at 2 pm and 8 pm, at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.
Mitchell conducts Mahler's Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” Korgold's Violin Concerto with renowned violinist Akiko Suwanai, winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and New Beginnings by Peter Boyer.
The monumental program, deeply rooted in Pasadena, simultaneously looks both forward and back while also reflecting the orchestra members' strong ties to the film and television recording industry. This marks the acclaimed orchestra's 97th season.
Mitchell commences his tenure with New Beginnings, a dazzlingly celebratory fanfare by Boyer, a prolific film score orchestrator and GRAMMY-nominated composer based in Altadena who served as Pasadena Symphony's 2012-13 Composer in Residence and has contributed orchestrations to more than 35 film scores. One of the composer's earliest orchestral commissions, New Beginnings has been heard from Carnegie Hall to the Kansas prairie and adapted for background music on CBS This Morning.
Also embracing the orchestra's cinematic connections and musical virtuosity, Suwanai, hailed for her “round, beautiful sound and perfect technique” (Opus Magazine), performs the Violin Concerto by Korngold, a masterful composer who brilliantly straddled both Hollywood and the rigorous Viennese Classical musical tradition from which he emerged. Referred to as a “Hollywood Concerto,” the beloved Violin Concerto integrates themes from films the composer scored during the Golden Age of cinema. It offers a subtle nod to the numerous Pasadena Symphony artists past and present whose work in the film recording industry spans the decades. In 2019, Mitchell conducted the work to great critical acclaim with Suwanai and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Spain.
Mitchell caps his first program as music director of the Pasadena Symphony with Mahler's landmark Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” a staggering work of tremendous emotional depth for massive forces. The symphonic poem melds traditional and modernist musical ideas while shifting moods from joy and exuberance to introspection and melancholy. NPR states, “It's hard to resist the pull of a piece that begins like Mahler's First: The strings play a single note spread out over seven octaves."
Says Mitchell, “I'm truly thrilled that the Pasadena Symphony's season launch and my debut as music director is finally here! What better way to connect with the Pasadena community than by opening my tenure with the brilliant music of a world-renowned composer from right up the road in Altadena? I am proud to kick off my first subscription series with the orchestra with Peter Boyer's New Beginnings and a masterpiece by of one of Hollywood's most legendary composers: Erich Wolfgang Korngold's sumptuous Violin Concerto, performed by the exquisite Akiko Suwanai. At the heart of my relationship with the Pasadena Symphony is, of course, my joyful collaboration with our masterful musicians. I'm very excited their talent will be on display front and center on one of the greatest orchestral showpieces of all time: Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 1, ‘Titan.' This promises to be an inspirational, stimulating start to our time together, and I can't wait to share it with you all!”
Pasadena Symphony President & CEO Andrew Brown states, “Pasadena Symphony's season-opening program on October 26th is a major milestone in the orchestra's history as we officially welcome to the podium Brett Mitchell as our stellar new music director. The launch of Brett's musical leadership marks the beginning of a significant new era of exciting musical possibilities for the acclaimed orchestra. We look forward to all that Brett will bring to the Pasadena Symphony, which has been a beloved and celebrated part of the community's cultural landscape since its inception in 1928, entertaining, inspiring, and captivating generations of audiences with its musical virtuosity.”
This is the first of six distinctive programs Mitchell will lead this season, all of which will spotlight the critically acclaimed orchestra's artistry, deep community roots, and unwavering commitment to championing emerging and established composers.
Preview: ‘Sunriver Music Festival to have doubly classical year in Central Oregon’
Brett Mitchell will lead the Sunriver Music Festival’s 2024 season in Central Oregon from August 10 to 23. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
BEND, Ore. — The Bulletin (Bend) has published a preview of the Sunriver Music Festival’s 2024 season, Brett Mitchell’s third as Artistic Director & Conductor:
Earth. Fire. Water. Air. These are the four classical elements the ancient Greeks used to explain the nature of matter.
Sunriver Music Festival, Central Oregon’s soon-to-return summer classical music series, returns this week with four classical concerts. Maestro Brett Mitchell and the Sunriver Music Festival team struck thematic gold this year, tying each of the year’s four concerts to one of those classical elements. It starts with Sunday’s opening night concert at the Tower Theatre in Bend, works inspired by or pertaining to Earth on the opening night concert Sunday at the Tower Theatre in Bend, the first of a total of four festival concerts that will be held at the downtown Bend theater.
On Aug. 18, the Festival Orchestra will present the second of the elementally themed concerts, “Water,” also the fourth and final of the Tower concerts, before moving back to its longtime home, the Sunriver Resort Great Hall, for “Fire” (Aug. 21), featuring pianist Joyce Yang, followed by the annual solo concert on Aug. 22, on which renowned violinist and bluegrass fiddler Tessa Lark will perform. Lark returns the following evening for the final of this year’s concerts, “Air.”
Four score
Before they tackle the second elemental concert, however, Mitchell and the Festival Orchestra will present the ever-popular Pops Concert, “A Tribute to Broadway & Film Music,” on Tuesday at the Tower.
This year’s Pops Concert features a celebration of big anniversaries, which includes music from films such as 60-year-old “My Fair Lady” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and younger fare such as 30-year-old “Forrest Gump,” Mitchell said.
“You kind of see where I’m going with it. All of these pieces are on this Pops program not just because they’re fun pieces that I think work together, but it’s a really nice way to commemorate the passage of time,” Mitchell said. “All of the pieces premiered or were released in ‘4’ years — 1944, 1964, 2004, that kind of thing.”
A fire idea
The idea for the season to have the “Classical Elements” theme came from the festival’s board and Meagan Iverson, SRMF executive director, Mitchell said.
“There’s no reason that the public would know this, but we have our final concert of every season on whatever night that is, and then literally the very next morning, the board and I sit down for like an hour and a half and we just do a debrief,” Mitchell said. They discuss what worked, what they’d bring back and what could be improved upon. One of those things was to have a theme that runs like connective tissue throughout the festival.
From the brainstorm session, “I took it and ran with it. I thought, ‘We have four classical concerts, and there are four classical elements,’” Mitchell said, adding with a laugh, “Apparently, now there’s five, but we don’t talk about that, ‘cause that screws up my season.” (To save you a Google trip: It’s “aether,” aka “quintessence.”)
Evocative tunes
Finding compositions that fit each evening’s theme was not exactly a problem.
“The trouble was not finding pieces; the trouble was ‘Of all of these pieces, what are we going to do?’” Mitchell said.
“Because composers have been so drawn to creating what we would call programmatic pieces — pieces inspired by things outside the music itself. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 is not a programmatic piece; it’s just a piece of music. But Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, which we’re doing on opening night this year, is program music,” he said. “It’s music that was specifically designed to evoke Beethoven’s love of nature, which seemed a great way to open the whole festival.”
That evening’s concert also features Charles Ives’ Variations on “America” and a celebration of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” featuring the talents of Orion Weiss, described as a “brilliant pianist” by The New York Times.
Mitchell points to how the second classical concert’s music evokes the evening’s “Water” theme. It starts with Johann Strauss’ “The Blue Danube,” followed by Debussy’s “The Sunken Cathedral,” “which every elementary pianist tries to play,” he said. They’re followed by George Frideric Handel’s “Water Music Suite” and Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony.
“We really leaned into all of those various composers, really trying to be evocative,” he said.
Other program notes
Mitchell and Iverson are enthused about having violinist Lark on hand this season. In addition to her solo program on Aug. 22, Lark will perform Michael Torke’s “Sky” concerto with the orchestra on Aug. 23’s “Air” concert.
“That was literally written for her and to feature her unique skill set, which is bluegrass and classical,” Iverson said. “She’s renowned in bluegrass circles worldwide, in addition to being an acclaimed classical violinist.”
“The particularly cool thing about this piece,” Mitchell said, “is it absolutely takes someone with classical chops to be able to play this piece, but it also takes somebody with a deep understanding of bluegrass music to be able to.”
The family-style matinee Discover the Symphony concert at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 15, is a one-hour, kid-friendly concert fit for anyone looking to dip a toe in classical waters. The afternoon will also feature an instrument petting zoo, affording a hands-on approach, prior to the concert.
“This is a perfect concert for folks that have never been to a classical music concert to go to first,” Mitchell said. “I would call it like a sample platter of everything else that’s on the rest of the season, but if you’re not down to sit through a whole Beethoven symphony, you can sit through a movement of a Beethoven symphony.”
Mitchell recently signed on for another four years as conductor of Sunriver Music Festival, which will take him through 2028. Oregon holds a special place in the hearts of Mitchell, who spent summers with his grandparents in Grants Pass as a boy, and his family, with whom he lives in Colorado.
“It’s funny, you know. It’s like the position is with the festival, but I feel so much a part of the community,” he said. “It speaks well of Sunriver, and just Central Oregon generally speaking, that we’ve all felt so welcome.”
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Review: ‘Béla Fleck and Cleveland Orchestra wow Blossom Music Center with Rhapsody in Blue’
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — Cleveland.com has published a review of Brett Mitchell’s recent performance with The Cleveland Orchestra, opening the classical series of the 2024 Blossom Music Festival:
Brett Mitchell and Béla Fleck backstage at Severance Music Center
Appearing with the Cleveland Orchestra on Saturday evening July 6, Béla Fleck surprised the Blossom Music Center crowd not so much by the level of his playing — virtuosic as always — but by how well he adapted the solo piano part for the banjo in his transcription of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
His reworkings succeeded so well that the piece seemed not just suitable for the banjo but actually conceived for it.
With a reputation that preceded him — his 18 Grammys acknowledge his mastery of every genre from bluegrass to classical —the audience warmed to Fleck immediately and continued to lavish their attention on his playing, eager to hear what magic might happen next.
Under the direction of Brett Mitchell, the Orchestra too seemed eager, playing at lower volumes than usual to balance the soloist. Wind soloists were excellent, especially Daniel McKelway, whose clarinet released a glorious opening skyward glissando, and Michael Sachs, who offered 1920s-style jazz from his muted trumpet. Strings generated an arrestingly warm sound, particularly in the famous orchestral tutti after the first cadenza — the passage used in commercials by a certain airline….
Mitchell opened the program with Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On The Town, a 1944 musical about a trio of sailors getting to spend a day of shore leave in New York City. Although pit and jazz bands have the edge over classical orchestras when it comes to Broadway jazz, The Clevelanders managed to loosen up in spite of their habits of exactitude.
All three selections were sexy and fun, but the final Episode, Times Square: 1944, fairly teetered on debauchery. Special mention again goes to McKelway, who caroused on both the E-flat and B-flat clarinet. Trombonist [Shachar Israel] and the alto sax [Gabriel Piqué] suggested alarming degrees of impropriety.
Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal, an eight-minute theater piece teeming with statements both mercurial and tender, unlocked the second half. It spotlighted lovely and meticulous solo playing from the woodwinds.
In William Grant Still’s 1931 Symphony No. 1 “Afro-American,” blues both opens and permeates the work, calling to mind George Gershwin but without the heat (the two composers knew each other’s work).
Although jazz had been unleashed in America by 1931, Still’s symphony seems European: rhythms are right-angled, syncopations are aligned with downbeats, and blues sections are more calculated than carefree. But Mitchell summoned a great deal of beauty and nobility from the symphony’s events.
To read the complete review, please click here.
Preview: ‘Conductor Brett Mitchell returns to Blossom Music Center’
Brett Mitchell will lead The Cleveland Orchestra’s opening classical performance of the 2024 Blossom Music Festival on Saturday, July 6. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND - Cleveland Classical has published a preview of Brett Mitchell’s upcoming season-opening classical performance with The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center:
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
“To say that once again being asked to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom is an honor would be a gross understatement,” Brett Mitchell said during a telephone interview. “I am not often at a loss for words, but there really aren’t any to describe how much it means to me.”
On Saturday, July 6 at 7:00 pm Mitchell will return to the Blossom podium to lead The Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1, “Afro-American,” and Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal. The program also includes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in Béla Fleck’s transcription for banjo and orchestra with Fleck as soloist. Tickets are available online.
Mitchell said he loves Rhapsody in Blue. But when the Orchestra told him that they didn’t want the symphonic version that is often played by orchestras he thought they might be considering the original Paul Whiteman jazz band version. “It turned out that what they wanted was Béla Fleck’s transcription where he plays the piano part on the banjo.”
The conductor said that he’s delighted to have the work on the program and to once again work with Fleck. “It’s wonderful because during my first season with the Colorado Symphony, Béla came and we did his third banjo concerto. So he and I have worked together before — and we hit it off. He’s an amazing musician. It’s funny, because he’s won all these GRAMMYs and the GRAMMYs operate by categorizing folks. Yet Béla has made a name for himself by thinking outside the box — or by not even acknowledging the box, just by loving great music and approaching it in the way that only he can.”
Mitchell also thinks that transcribing a piano work for the banjo rather than a single line instrument such as the clarinet or cello makes a lot of sense. “A cello can play chords here and there, but it is not percussive in the way that the piano is. The attack of a piano note can be quite direct, and no instrument does direct better than a banjo. It’s because of the twang of the banjo — the sound it makes when it’s strummed, or when it’s plucked, or when it’s picked — can cut through just about anything. So I think it’s going to be a total trip and I’m just tickled that the audience is going to get to hear it.”
The conductor noted that William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1 is a piece that has been on his wish list for over a decade. “So when the Orchestra asked if I would be interested, both of my hands immediately shot up.”
Mitchell pointed out that while 2024 is the 100th anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue it is also the 80th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s On the Town.
“The show opened in 1944, and I think it’s really interesting to hear what jazz on Broadway sounded like in 1924 with Gershwin, and in 1944 with Bernstein. 20 years doesn’t seem like that long a time, but when you listen to both pieces you’d think they were written 50 years apart. The musical growth during the jazz age and the depression, and once the Second World War started the Swing era really took hold with Glenn Miller and the Dorsey brothers — the change is just extraordinary.”
Samuel Barber’s Overture to The School for Scandal was written in 1931 and was the composer’s first work for full orchestra. “Barber lived from 1910 -1981, which means he was 21 years old when he wrote it, which is just astonishing — he was still studying at Curtis. He wrote it during the summer in Italy, and when he returned to Curtis, he tried to have the piece read by the school orchestra, but the director at the time was none other than Fritz Reiner who said, thanks, but no thanks.”
The work was premiered two years later by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Smallens. “I think it’s ironic when your university orchestra won’t even read your piece, and two years later it’s on a concert program by the Philadelphia Orchestra.”
Saturday’s concert will also be a homecoming for Mitchell, who served on the conducting staff from 2013 to 2017, first as Assistant Conductor then as Associate Conductor. He was Music Director of the Colorado Symphony from 2017 to 2021. In March Mitchell was named Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony, and the Sunriver Music Festival has extended his contract as Artistic Director & Conductor through the 2028 summer season. Still there is a special place in his heart for Cleveland.
“I conducted The Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concerts last year and I think a third of the way through was my 150th performance with that amazing orchestra — which just blows my mind. And the fact that they’ve asked me to return to Blossom is a thrill, and I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity.”
To read the complete preview, please click here.
Brett Mitchell extends contract as Artistic Director & Conductor of Sunriver Music Festival through 2028
SUNRIVER, Ore. — The Sunriver Music Festival has announced that Brett Mitchell has extended his contract as Artistic Director & Conductor through the 2028 summer season.
From the official press release:
The Sunriver Music Festival Board of Trustees has announced that Artistic Director & Conductor Brett Mitchell’s contract has been extended four years to 2028. The maestro's four-year extension will encompass the Festival's monumental 50th season. In March 2024, Mitchell was named Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony, beginning an initial five-year term with the 2024-25 season. He will work concurrently with the Pasadena Symphony and the Sunriver Music Festival, along with his many prestigious guest conducting roles.
“Maestro Mitchell is an esteemed conductor with a dedication to artistic excellence, creative concert curation, and inspired community engagement, and we are thrilled that his role with the Festival will continue,” said Festival Board President Dr. Ronald Carver.
For more information, please click here.
Pasadena Symphony announces 2024-25 season, Brett Mitchell’s first as Music Director
PASADENA — The Pasadena Symphony has announced its 2024-25 season, Brett Mitchell’s first as Music Director.
From the official press release:
Pasadena Symphony launches a bold new era with the announcement of its 2024-25 season, the first to be programmed and led by recently appointed Music Director Brett Mitchell, who is only the sixth conductor to helm the orchestra since it was founded in 1928. It features six distinctive programs selected by Mitchell to spotlight the critically acclaimed orchestra’s virtuosic artistry, deep community roots, and unwavering commitment to championing emerging and established composers. The programming also reflects the considerable impact many of the orchestra’s gifted musicians have had on the film industry and incorporates some of the musical influences on Mitchell’s own career. Mitchell will conduct all six of the programs during his debut season with the orchestra, which marks Pasadena Symphony’s 97th season.
“I’m particularly pleased during my first season with Pasadena Symphony to explore a wide variety of repertoire that will showcase the breadth and scope of my brilliant colleagues’ musicianship while also featuring an inclusive roster of soloists and composers,” says Mitchell. “My intention is to showcase great music performed by great musicians.”
“I will strive to cover as many bases as I possibly can with each season’s programs. That means we’ll present works from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, and contemporary eras as well as a broad range of styles within each of those periods. Some works will be familiar while others lesser known.”
Download the 2024-25 Season Flyer
Pasadena Symphony President & CEO Andrew Brown states, “This is a tremendously exciting time for the Pasadena Symphony as we embark on our next chapter under Brett Mitchell’s artistic leadership. He has crafted a season of incredible music that touches, enthralls, inspires, challenges and intrigues. We can’t wait for audiences to experience all that he brings to the concert hall.”
During Mitchell’s inaugural season, he conducts from the canon of landmark orchestral works Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, “Titan,” a staggering work of tremendous emotional depth for massive forces; Mozart’s masterly final symphony, Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter,” completed just three years before the composer’s death; Prokofiev’s impeccably crafted Classical Symphony; and Beethoven’s cheerful Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” expressing the joy of nature.
Mitchell and the orchestra welcome six distinguished guest artists performing a range of seminal concertos, three of them violinists. Akiko Suwanai, who in 1990, at age 18, became the youngest winner of the violin portion of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition, plays Korngold’s Violin Concerto, also known as a “Hollywood Concerto” for integrating themes from films the composer scored during the Golden Age of cinema. It offers a subtle nod to the numerous Pasadena Symphony artists past and present whose work in the film recording industry spans the decades. Stefan Jackiw, a violinist with “talent that’s off the scale” (The Washington Post), performs the sublime Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, “Turkish,” composed by Mozart when he was still a teenager. Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, a lush tour-de-force, features William Hagen, a violinist praised for his “glowing tone (and) virtuosic pyrotechnics” (Chicago Classical Review).
Two leading pianists also join Pasadena Symphony: Inon Barnatan, “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” (The New York Times), presenting Florence Price’s Concerto for Piano in One Movement, and Canadian pianist Stewart Goodyear, interpreting Gershwin’s iconic jazz-infused Rhapsody in Blue as part of the work’s 2024 global centenary celebration. Additionally, Mark Kosower, the eminent Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, takes the stage for a performance of Dvořák’s beloved Cello Concerto.
Providing further musical texture, Mitchell introduces audiences to a selection of works by composers he calls “near and dear to my heart.” They include former Pasadena Symphony Composer in Residence, prolific film score orchestrator and GRAMMY-nominated Altadena resident Peter Boyer’s dazzling fanfare New Beginnings, which launches the orchestra’s 2024-25 season and aptly signals Mitchell’s first podium appearance as Music Director. Mitchell illuminates Mason Bates’ Sea-Blue Circuitry, mimicking a computer motherboard; and Samuel Jones’ Hymn to the Earth, a suite derived from his larger symphonic work entitled “Roundings: Musings and Meditations on Texas New Deal Murals,” which contemplates Earth’s enduring power; Adolphus Hailstork’s Baroque Suite, filtering his unique compositional voice through a historical musical lens; and 2024 GRAMMY-winning composer Jessie Montgomery’s vivid Starburst.
Mitchell states, “These contemporary works are all part of the great continuum of classical music. The ‘conversations’ that take place between these newer works and the great masterworks of the past—how one work causes us to hear the next work differently—are part of the great joy of being in the concert hall.”
Themes of nature also punctuate the programming this season with Mitchell and the orchestra exploring the classical elements: earth, water, air, and fire.
Mitchell explains, “One of the things I’ve always loved about California is the diversity of its nature. There are countless examples of composers writing works inspired by nature, and I’ve selected a handful of favorites to share.” In addition to Beethoven’s sunny “Pastoral” Symphony celebrating the bucolic countryside, and Jones’ homage to our planet, he leads Wagner’s thrilling “Magic Fire Music” from Die Walküre, considered the composer’s magnum opus; Debussy’s shimmering La Mer (“The Sea”); and Ravel’s descriptive Une barque sur l’océan (“A boat on the ocean”).
In December, the Pasadena Symphony continues its tradition of presenting its annually sold-out Holiday Candlelight Concert at All Saints Church, with Mitchell conducting timeless seasonal favorites with special guests, including the LA Bronze Handbell Ensemble, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, the Donald Brinegar Singers and JPL Chorus.
Additional Coverage
Colorado Boulevard (5/21): New Music Director Brett Mitchell Is Launching a New Era for Pasadena Symphony
OperaWire (5/22): Pasadena Symphony Unveils 2024-25 Season
Broadway World (5/22): Pasadena Symphony Reveals 2024-25 Season
Los Angeles Times (5/25): Essential Arts
Musical America (5/28): Pasadena Symphony Announces 2024-25 Season, Launching a New Era for the Esteemed Orchestra
Patch (5/28): Pasadena Symphony Announces 2024-25 Season, Launching a New Era for the Esteemed Orchestra
San Francisco Classical Voice (6/1): A New Era at Pasadena Symphony
Brett Mitchell returns to Tulsa Symphony’s 2024-25 classical season
Brett Mitchell will lead a program of Brahms, Ravel, and Bartók with the Tulsa Symphony on October 12, 2024.
TULSA — The Tulsa Symphony has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to lead the second classical subscription concert of their 2024-25 season, leading the following program at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center on Saturday, October 12, 2024:
BRAHMS - Selections from Hungarian Dances
RAVEL - Rapsodie espagnole
BARTÓK - Concerto for Orchestra
Mr. Mitchell first led the orchestra in March 2023 in a program of Bach, Vaughan Williams, Mahler, and Prokofiev. This performance marks his second engagement with the orchestra.
For more information, please click here.
Feature: ‘Brett Mitchell Is Listening’
PASADENA — Local News Pasadena has published a feature about Brett Mitchell following his appointment as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony. Mr. Mitchell spoke extensively with veteran journalist Victoria Thomas for this piece, excerpted here in part:
Smells like teen spirit
[Mitchell] describes his new role [as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony] this way: “My job is to serve the music, the musicians, and the community.”
A Seattle native who grew up down the street from Kurt Cobain and now a resident of Denver, Colorado, Mitchell grew up loving grunge as well as John Williams’ iconic “Star Wars” and “Superman” scores. He cites Barry Manilow as a musical guilty pleasure “…because Manilow is a consummate entertainer and showman. He genuinely connects with everyone in the audience. It’s real, and the people know it’s real, and my passion is to do the same with classical music as well as other genres,” Desi Arnaz-Copacabana ruffles optional. He recounts an evening in 2018 in Denver’s spectacular open-air Red Rocks amphitheater where he shared the stage with Yo-Yo Ma, saying, “He held those 9,000 people rapt. They were as attentive and silent 90 minutes into the program as they were 90 seconds in. Don’t ever underestimate the power of music.”
“The great thing about the Pasadena Symphony is that we’re working with the world’s A-grade, first-call studio musicians who can play everything and anything. They’re professional chameleons, so a specific focus of mine is to showcase the breadth of the team,” says Mitchell.
“This is one of the key differences between pop and classical performance. Pop music is the domain of an individual persona. Billy Joel always sounds like Billy Joel and people love the brand. But classical players need to be at ease in many different costumes. Debussy should not sound like Beethoven.”
On the subject of ego, he makes the distinction between hubris and authority. “Yes, it absolutely takes confidence to take the podium and lead. Without ego, we’d never get off the couch, much less get from the couch to the podium. But if a person’s surety arises from some innate sense of superiority or entitlement or ‘deserving to be here,’ there will be problems. In my case, I feel confident because I know I’ve done the work and that I continue to do it with passion and fervor. I am always gobbling up information, and I learn as much or maybe even more than I teach. Doing the work in this sense begins with respect for the audience, as well as the virtuosity of the musicians, and consists essentially of listening – active listening – seeing how the artists and the audience respond to certain things.”
So Wolfie, Ludvig Van and Antonio V. walk into a bar…
As he moves into position to lead the 2024-2025 season, Mitchell recounts receiving invaluable advice from none other than Ara Guzelimian, current Artistic Director of the Ojai Music Festival and former Dean and Provost of The Julliard School, who previously served as Artistic Advisor and Senior Director for Carnegie Hall.
“On the subject of programming and how to build a compelling program that will bring the folks to the hall, Ara told me to picture three pieces of music as entities sidling up to a bar. Would the three have anything to say to each other? If the pieces are too similar, there isn’t much excitement, although you’d have something very harmonious. If the pieces are radically different, that can be interesting, but it might be difficult to find common ground.” For the approaching season, Mitchell promises a “varied diet” of music, pulling from a broad spectrum and a broadening palette.
In addition to overseeing all artistic aspects of the Pasadena Symphony, Mitchell will collaborate on the orchestra’s highly regarded community and education programs, including the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras, which encompass eleven award-winning ensembles serving students of all musical abilities in grades 5-12.
On the subject of relating to kids, he says, “I grew up listening to the pop music of my parents’ generation, then I listened to Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and then I listened to Beethoven. That’s when I began to understand what music actually is. It’s all emotion. In listening to Beethoven, I felt that the artist was someone having a hard time with something. As an artist, he was able to articulate it without words, and hearing that makes the rest of us feel less alone.”
Brett Mitchell will lead the majority of his concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony at the orchestra’s home of the Ambassador Auditorium, often referred to as the “Carnegie Hall of the West.”
Orchestrating a Graceful Future
Andrew Brown accepted the role of Chief Executive Officer of the Pasadena Symphony and POPS. He manages the Pasadena Symphony, the Pasadena POPS, under the direction of Principal Pops Conductor Michael Feinstein, and the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras (PYSO), serving over 800 students in the San Gabriel Valley.
We spoke with Brown this week, who commented, “After a few years without a music director, we are honored and delighted to welcome Brett as our partner in building out our ensemble. His resume is superb, but beyond that, he’s both creative and pragmatic, and he brings planning, leadership, and organizational intelligence to the role in addition to his impeccable musical credentials.”
Brown says that Mitchell’s arrival brings with it a new sense of opportunity, as well as challenge. “We’ve relied for so long on the subscription model, but all of that was disrupted by the pandemic. There’s no denying the fact that thanks to digital technology, we can all enjoy incredible music while sitting at home in our pajamas, and of course, people got comfortable doing that for a few years of COVID-19. But now we’re inviting people to come back out into the world for an immersive musical experience, even if it’s only a couple of times a year. In the presence of live performance before a live audience, there’s a momentum, those goosebumps that you really can’t replicate any other way.”
To read the complete feature, ‘Brett Mitchell Is Listening,’ please click here.
Brett Mitchell Appointed Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony
Pasadena Symphony Appoints Brett Mitchell Music Director
Highly Acclaimed Conductor Assumes Post on April 1, 2024
PASADENA (March 22, 2024) – Pasadena Symphony Board President Kimberly Winick today announced that the Board of Directors has appointed Brett Mitchell Music Director. Mitchell begins his five-year tenure with Pasadena Symphony on April 1, 2024. His first performance as Music Director will be the orchestra’s season-opening concert on October 26, 2024 (2024/25 season details to be announced).
Winick states, “Brett Mitchell emerged from our competitive music director search as our all-around favorite, and I am delighted to welcome him as our new artistic leader. His energy and talent will engage, sustain, and help to broaden our musical community.”
Pasadena Symphony CEO Andrew Brown adds, “We are excited Brett Mitchell is joining the orchestra at this significant time in the orchestra’s history, with our centennial just four years away. Brett is a tremendous talent. With his deeply creative programming, broad vision, collaborative spirit, and innate ability to keep classical music fresh and inspire musicians and audiences alike, he is the right person to lead the orchestra into its second century.”
Mitchell says, “I'm deeply honored and absolutely thrilled to be joining the Pasadena Symphony as its next Music Director. From the first moment we made music together in March 2022, it was very clear that there was a special connection between the musicians and me, and that same chemistry has since extended beyond the stage to our friends in the audience and throughout our community. I couldn't be more excited for the musical journey that lies ahead for our entire community as we embark together on this next chapter of the Pasadena Symphony's story.”
Orchestra’s Sixth Music Director in Nearly a Century
Mitchell is the sixth conductor to serve as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony since the orchestra was founded in 1928. He succeeds distinguished Music Directors Reginald Bland (1928- 1936); Dr. Richard Lert (1936-1968); Daniel Lewis (1971-1982); Jorge Mester (1984-2010); and David Lockington (2013-2022). Pasadena Symphony, which has garnered considerable critical and public acclaim throughout its history, is a “virtuoso orchestra” lauded for “zesty, swaggering performances” (Los Angeles Times) and celebrated for its “superb tonal clarity and rich instrumental brilliance” (Pasadena Star News).
In addition to overseeing all artistic aspects of the Pasadena Symphony, Mitchell will collaborate on the orchestra’s highly regarded community and education programs, including the Pasadena Youth Symphony Orchestras, which encompass eleven award-winning ensembles serving students of all musical abilities in grades 5-12.
Mitchell, who has been on Pasadena Symphony’s radar for several years, was previously named an Artistic Partner for the orchestra’s 2021-22 season. Based on the strength of that initial appearance, he was invited to return as an Artistic Partner during the orchestra's 2023-24 season, leading its well-received opening concerts last fall.
Coming Full Circle
Mitchell – who was born in 1979, raised in Seattle, Washington, and now resides in Denver, Colorado with his family, where they plan to remain – vividly recalls the music from the Star Wars and Superman films having a tremendous impact on him as a child. “The first time I heard an orchestra was in a movie theater on a film soundtrack,” he explains, inspiring him to earn a degree in music composition from Western Washington University. “I wanted to be a film composer but ended up writing orchestral works that, in a twist of fate, I started conducting, which I discovered was my true passion.” That led to him earning both Master’s and Doctorate degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin.
He continues, “In many ways, joining the Pasadena Symphony as Music Director is really coming full circle for me. So many of our musicians are these iconic studio players whose work I’ve known and loved for decades. To now be able to work with them and experience their artistry in person is a thrill beyond words.”
Additional Coverage
Colorado Boulevard (3/22): Brett Mitchell Is New Pasadena Symphony Music Director
Slippedisc (3/24): Pasadena Picks an American Music Director
Pizzicato (3/24): Pasadena Symphony appoints Brett Mitchell as Music Director
OperaWire (3/25): Pasadena Symphony Names Sixth Music Director in its History
Hey SoCal (3/25): Pasadena Symphony announces Brett Mitchell as new music director
Musical America (3/26): Pasadena Symphony Taps Music Director (subscription required)
Broadway World (3/27): Pasadena Symphony Appoints Brett Mitchell Music Director
Pasadena Now (3/27): Pasadena Symphony Names Brett Mitchell as Its Next Music Director
The Violin Channel (3/28): California's Pasadena Symphony Appoints New Music Director
Los Angeles Times (3/30): Easter music, alt art fair and the best L.A. culture in the week ahead
Symphony (4/1): Brett Mitchell Named Music Director at Pasadena Symphony
Local News Pasadena (4/4): Brett Mitchell is Listening
Pasadena Weekly (4/11): Major Music Changes: Pasadena Symphony appoints Brett Mitchell as new music director
Brett Mitchell will lead his first concerts as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony on October 26, 2024, at the orchestra’s home of the Ambassador Auditorium, often referred to as the “Carnegie Hall of the West.”
Brett Mitchell to open The Cleveland Orchestra’s classical series at the 2024 Blossom Music Festival
Brett Mitchell will lead the opening concert of The Cleveland Orchestra’s classical series at the 2024 Blossom Music Festival. (Photograph by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — For the second time in four seasons, The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will lead the opening concert of their classical series at the 2024 Blossom Music Festival.
On Saturday, July 6, Mr. Mitchell will be joined by banjoist Béla Fleck—fresh off his latest Grammy Award wins—to mark the centennial of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with his dazzling new transcription of this beloved showpiece. Mr. Mitchell rounds out this all-American evening with orchestral gems by Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, and William Grant Still.
The complete program:
BERNSTEIN - Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
GERSHWIN (trans. Fleck) - Rhapsody in Blue
Béla Fleck, banjo
BARBER - Overture to The School for Scandal
STILL - Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American Symphony)
Mr. Mitchell also led The Cleveland Orchestra in the opening concert of their classical series at the 2021 Blossom Music Festival, which marked the orchestra’s first public performance since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
For tickets and more information about Mr. Mitchell’s performance at the 2024 Blossom Music Festival, please click here.
Sunriver Music Festival announces 2024 season, ‘Classical Elements,’ Brett Mitchell’s third as Artistic Director & Conductor
“One of my favorite things about Central Oregon is the power of nature that we’re able to witness all year round, so I’m particularly thrilled to share with you an entire season filled with pieces inspired by the four classical elements: earth, water, fire, and air. Composers for centuries have been inspired by the enormity and grandeur of nature, and I know you’ll be just as inspired when you hear their extraordinary music.” Brett Mitchell, Artistic Director & Conductor
SUNRIVER, Ore. — The Sunriver Music Festival has announced its 2024 summer season, ‘Classical Elements,’ which marks Brett Mitchell’s third as the organization’s Artistic Director & Conductor.
The Festival’s 47th season opens Sunday, August 11 at the iconic Tower Theatre in downtown Bend, and closes Friday, August 23 at Sunriver Resort’s historic Great Hall. Four classical concerts, one pops concert, a solo violin recital, and a family-friendly ‘Discover the Symphony’ concert will be presented.
The classical season will consist of the following four programs, all under the direction of Artistic Director & Conductor Brett Mitchell:
OPENING NIGHT CLASSICAL CONCERT: EARTH
Sunday, August 11 - 7:30 p.m.
Tower Theatre - Bend, OR
IVES (arr. Schuman) - Variations on ‘America’
GERSHWIN - Rhapsody in Blue
Orion Weiss, piano
BEETHOVEN - Symphony No. 6, ‘Pastoral’
CLASSICAL CONCERT II: WATER
Sunday, August 18 - 3 p.m.
Tower Theatre - Bend, OR
J. STRAUSS II - The Blue Danube
DEBUSSY (orch. Büsser) - The Sunken Cathedral
HANDEL (arr. Harty) - Water Music Suite
SCHUMANN - Symphony No. 3, ‘Rhenish’
CLASSICAL CONCERT III: FIRE
Wednesday, August 21 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunriver Resort Great Hall - Sunriver, OR
BEETHOVEN - Overture from The Creatures of Prometheus
HAYDN - Symphony No. 59, ‘Fire’
FALLA - Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Joyce Yang, piano
FALLA - ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ from El amor brujo
SEASON FINALE CLASSICAL CONCERT: AIR
Friday, August 23 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunriver Resort Great Hall - Sunriver, OR
AARON JAY KERNIS - Musica Celestis
MICHAEL TORKE - Sky
Tessa Lark, violin
MOZART - Symphony No. 41, ‘Jupiter’
Repertoire for the complete season is available on our Upcoming Events page.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit sunrivermusic.org.
READ MORE:
The Bend Bulletin: ‘Sunriver Music Festival announces 2024 Summer Concert Series’
Review: 'Cleveland Orchestra kicks off 2023 holiday series with festive Severance concert'
Brett Mitchell introduces The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts from his living room in Denver, CO.
CLEVELAND — Cleveland.com has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts, led by guest conductor Brett Mitchell:
It’s a safe bet to hold off on the Noëls and Fa-la-la-la-las until The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus launch their Holiday Concerts. This year there are 14 of them, and these events are regarded as the true beginning of the holiday season. Let the celebrations begin!
And so they did on Wednesday evening, December 13, at Severance Music Center, when Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (joined by the Cleveland State University Chorale and the College of Wooster Chorus) in a classy program of Christmas, Chanukah, and winter-themed music starring the formidable Capathia Jenkins, who brought her personal vocal rizz to the party (thank you, Oxford English Dictionary, for the gift of that new word).
The engaging playlist began with a hearty welcome by conductor/emcee Brett Mitchell, a former Cleveland Orchestra assistant conductor, and an elaborate version of “O Come, All Ye Faithful” by Mack Wilberg, director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, who contributed four arrangements to the program.
Mitchell went on to introduce two orchestral selections “from the classical canon,” an arrangement of the chorale that appears twice in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata BWV 147 by Leopold Stokowski, long-time conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and himself an organist, and the breath-taking Dance of the Tumblers from Rimsky-Korsakoff’s “The Snow Maiden,” tossed off at a daring tempo with astonishing clarity…
Mitchell gave a nod to another December celebration, the Jewish Festival of Lights, summed up in Jeff Tyzik’s ebullient “Chanukah Suite,” which featured the Orchestra’s gleaming brass section.
Brett Mitchell introduces The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2023 Holiday Concerts from the stage at Severance Music Center.
Then it was time to bring the audience into the celebration. Mitchell announced that “Away in a Manger” (arranged by Steven Amundson) would be its audition piece, and if things went well, the assembled multitudes would be invited to join in “Joy To the World.” Things did, and Admundson’s arrangement of Handel’s tune set the mood for the composer’s “Hallelujah Chorus” in Mozart’s orchestration, which brought the audience to its feet…
How do you follow such a class act? With an appearance by Saint Nicholas himself, who ho-ho-ho’d his way down the aisle looking untraditionally svelte, to hold a witty Q&A with Mitchell. His departure led to Leroy Anderson’s obligatory and delightful “Sleigh Ride,” and to the final piece on the printed program, Wilberg’s arrangement of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” prefaced by Mitchell’s concise (and accurate!) comments about the origin of Mendelssohn’s tune.
Not quite finished yet, Mitchell led the performers and audience in Carmen Dragon’s lovely and theatrical arrangement of “Silent Night” and the musical greeting card, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
To read the full review, please click here.
Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and Wooster Chorus in Arthur Harris’s arrangement of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ live at Severance Music Center on Dec 14, 2023.
Preview: Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra's 2023 holiday festival
Brett Mitchell will lead more than a dozen performances with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center between December 13 and 23, 2023.
CLEVELAND — Fox 8 News has broadcast an interview with Ross Binnie, Chief Brand Officer of The Cleveland Orchestra, about the ensemble’s upcoming holiday festival, featuring 14 performances led by guest conductor Brett Mitchell.
Mr. Mitchell will conduct a dozen performances of the orchestra’s annual Holiday Concerts from December 13 through 23, as well as two performances of John Debney’s score for Elf (2003) while the film is shown live on the big screen above the Severance Music Center stage on December 19 and 20.
Watch the complete interview below, or click here to view it on Fox 8 News’s website.
Preview: Brett Mitchell leads ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ with the Houston Symphony
Brett Mitchell will lead Danny Elfman’s Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated score for The Nightmare Before Christmas with the Houston Symphony on December 9-10 at Jones Hall.
HOUSTON — The Katy News has published a preview of the Houston Symphony’s upcoming 2023 holiday concert schedule, including several performances led by guest conductor Brett Mitchell.
Guest Conductor Brett Mitchell kicks off the holiday concert season in Jones Hall with the modern holiday masterpiece, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. As the film plays on the big screen above the Jones Hall stage, the live orchestra breathes life into Danny Elfman’s captivating score and the whimsical worlds of Halloween Town and Christmas Town.
Performances will be presented at Jones Hall on Saturday, December 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 10 at 2:30 p.m. For tickets and more information, please click here.
Preview: Pasadena Symphony kicks off 2023-24 season with Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn and a nod to Silicon Valley's great inventors
Brett Mitchell will open the Pasadena Symphony’s 2023-24 classical subscription series at the Ambassador Auditorium on October 21 on a program featuring works of Mason Bates, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky.
PASADENA — The Pasadena Symphony has announced details about its opening classical weekend of the 2023-24 season, led by returning guest conductor Brett Mitchell:
The Pasadena Symphony opens its 96th season on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at Ambassador Auditorium with both matinee and evening performances at 2:00pm and 8:00pm. The six-concert series of Classical Music’s Greatest Hits, will open with Tchaikovsky’s fate-filled Symphony No. 4. Highly sought-after conductor Brett Mitchell returns to kick off the 2023-24 season as one of six Artistic Partners to take the podium this season for the orchestra’s Music Director search.
Pasadena’s most anticipated opening night of the concert season will showcase the fresh talent of Armenian Violinist Diana Adamyan on Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. First Prize winner of the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition and the 2020 Khachaturian Violin Competition, Adamyan has been deemed “one of the new generation’s most promising and gifted young concert soloists” by The Violin Channel.
The 23/24 season ushers in the Pasadena Symphony’s fourth annual Composer’s Showcase, featuring work by emerging and established living composers. The Kennedy Center’s first composer-in-residence, Mason Bates’ Garages of the Valley will open the program, taking inspiration from the great inventors of our time who dreamed up the digital age in the most low-tech of spaces dotting the landscape of Silicon Valley. The magical intersection between music and technology is a central theme of Bates’ work, including his GRAMMY-winning opera The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs.
To read the complete preview, please click here.
To learn more about and purchase tickets to these performances, please click here.
Audio: Brett Mitchell discusses John Williams's score for 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'
HOUSTON — As he prepares to lead the Houston Symphony in four performances of John Williams’s Oscar-nominated score for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Brett Mitchell has appeared as a guest on the most recent episode of Houston Matters from Houston Public Media.
In this appearance, Mr. Mitchell speaks with producer Joshua Zinn about Mr. Williams’s work for both the Harry Potter and Star Wars franchises.
To listen to the complete story, please click here; the interview with Mr. Mitchell begins at 6:20.
Brett Mitchell to lead John Williams celebration at 2023 Strings Music Festival
Brett Mitchell will lead the Strings Music Festival Orchestra in an all-John Williams performance on July 1, 2023, at the Strings Music Pavilion in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
John Williams and Brett Mitchell in Nov. 2022 at Severance Music Center in Cleveland, Ohio (Photo by Angela Mitchell)
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Brett Mitchell will return to the Strings Music Festival to lead an all-John Williams program on Saturday, July 1, 2023, the organization has announced.
The program will feature original arrangements for brass and percussion by Timothy Higgins of some of Mr. Williams’s most iconic works, including music from the Star Wars and Harry Potter films, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Lincoln. The Cowboys, and several Olympic fanfares.
The orchestra will be comprised of members of the Cleveland, Minnesota, and Philadelphia orchestras; the Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Utah symphonies; the Chicago Lyric and San Francisco opera orchestras; the United States Marine Band; and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit stringsmusicfestival.com. Donor presale begins on Tuesday, April 25; tickets will be on sale to the public on Thursday, May 11.
Mr. Mitchell first led the Strings Music Festival in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 on their 2018 season finale, and returned to lead Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on their 2022 season finale.
Brett Mitchell returns to lead The Cleveland Orchestra's 2023 Holiday Concerts
Brett Mitchell will lead his fifth season of Cleveland Orchestra Holiday Concerts in December 2023 at Severance Music Center. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
Brett Mitchell welcomes Santa Claus to the Severance Music Center stage on December 8, 2022. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will return to lead their 2023 Holiday Concerts, a series of a dozen performances running from Wednesday, December 13 through Saturday, December 23.
This marks Mr. Mitchell’s fifth season as conductor and host of the Orchestra’s celebrated holiday concerts.
Tickets are on sale now at clevelandorchestra.com/holiday.
Repertoire, guest artists, and additional holiday programs will be announced in Fall 2023.
Sunriver Music Festival announces 2023 season, Brett Mitchell's second as Artistic Director & Conductor
SUNRIVER, Ore. — The Sunriver Music Festival has announced its 2023 summer season, which marks Brett Mitchell’s second as the organization’s Artistic Director & Conductor.
Running from August 4 through 17, the Festival’s 46th season will feature four classical concerts, a pops concert, and a family concert, all under the baton of Mr. Mitchell, as well as a solo piano recital.
The classical season will consist of the following four programs:
CLASSICAL CONCERT I - August 5, 2023
MOZART - Regina coeli | Ave verum corpus
feat. Central Oregon Mastersingers
MOZART - Symphony No. 38, “Prague”
STRAUSS - Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
CLASSICAL CONCERT II - August 11, 2023
MILHAUD - La création du monde
BRUCH - Violin Concerto No. 1
William Hagen, violin
BRAHMS - Symphony No. 3
CLASSICAL CONCERT III - August 14, 2023
COPLAND - Three Latin American Sketches
BARBER - Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Kathryn Mueller, soprano
MAHLER (arr. Lee) - Symphony No. 4
Kathryn Mueller, soprano
CLASSICAL CONCERT IV - August 17, 2023
LIGETI - Concert Românesc
HAYDN - Symphony No. 104, “London”
BEETHOVEN - Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
Andrew von Oeyen, piano
Repertoire for the complete season is available on our Upcoming Events page.
For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit sunrivermusic.org.
Brett Mitchell debuts with Pensacola Symphony Orchestra on 2023-24 classical season
Brett Mitchell will lead the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra in a program of works by Mason Bates, Saint-Saëns, and Tchaikovsky on their 2023-24 classical subscription series.
PENSACOLA — The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra has announced that Brett Mitchell will make his subscription debut on their 2023-24 classical subscription series. The program will be:
MASON BATES - Garages of the Valley
SAINT-SAËNS - Cello Concerto No. 1
Mark Kosower, cello
TCHAIKOVSKY - Symphony No. 4
The program will be presented at Pensacola’s Saenger Theatre on Saturday, November 4, 2023.
For complete information and to purchase tickets, please click here.