Brett Mitchell

Brett Mitchell (born July 2, 1979) is an American conductor, and is currently Assistant Conductor of both the Houston Symphony and the Orchestre National de France.

Biography

Born in Seattle, Brett Mitchell began piano studies at age 6, and studied piano, percussion, and saxophone throughout elementary, middle, and high school. He gave his first public performances as a conductor while at Lynnwood High School in 1995 at the age of 16, leading both orchestra and wind ensemble concerts, and served as music director for his first musical in the spring of 1996 while still a high-school junior.

Mitchell began undergraduate work on a degree in music composition at Western Washington University in the fall of 1997. During his four years there, he studied composition and conducting with Roger Briggs and piano with Margaret Brink and Jeffrey Gilliam. As a conductor, he organized many student performances, conducted the school's orchestra, collaborated with faculty in concerto performances, and served as music director for multiple summer stock and other music theater productions. As a composer, Mitchell wrote both concert works and scores for local television and student films. He won numerous piano scholarships, and was named Presser Scholar and Outstanding Graduating Senior in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

Upon completion of his Bachelor of Music in June 2001, he moved to Austin to study orchestral conducting with Kevin Noe at The University of Texas at Austin. For the next four years, he would serve as Music Director of the University Orchestra and sometime cover conductor for the [http://www.austinsymphony.org Austin Symphony] . Mitchell graduated from The University of Texas in 2003 with a Master of Music and in 2005 with a Doctor of Musical Arts. His work with Noe led to his employment with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble from 2002 to 2006 as their Associate Conductor, where his responsibilities included leading subscription programs [cite news | author=Mark Kanny | title= New Music conductor takes on daunting 20th-century classic | url= http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_85459.html | work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | date=10 Aug 2002| accessdate=2008-08-27] [cite news | author=Mark Kanny | title= Good music takes center stage in Saturday night concert | url= http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_202009.html | work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | date=5 Jul 2004| accessdate=2008-08-27] , many world and U.S. premieres [cite news | author=Jane Vranish | title= PNME stresses music over theater with premiere of Stock’s “Hostage” | url= http://www.pittsburghpg.org/pg/06191/704639-42.stm| work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date=10 Jul 2006| accessdate=2008-08-27] [cite news | author=Mark Kanny | title= Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble’s concert richly rewards patience of overflow crowd | url= http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_146799.html | work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | date=28 Jul 2003| accessdate=2008-08-27] , numerous multi-media productions [cite news | author=Mark Kanny | title= Ensemble season finale a feast for eyes, ears | url= http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_363971.html | work=Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | date=8 Aug 2005| accessdate=2008-08-27] , and several recording projects.

In addition to his graduate work, Mitchell also studied with conductors outside the university, most notably Kurt Masur, with whom he has worked extensively since 2004 [cite news | author=Barrymore Laurence Scherer | title= Following his lead: young conductors learn from Masur | url= http://www.kurtmasur.com/edu_01_04_04.html | work=Wall Street Journal | date=1 Apr 2004 | accessdate=2008-08-27] [cite news | author=Robert Faires | title= Classical’s Future | url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A203807 | work=Austin Chronicle | date=26 Mar 2004 | accessdate=2008-08-27] . After his second master class with Masur in January 2006, Mitchell was invited Paris to audition to become Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France. The following month, Mitchell was named to the post [cite news | author=Mark McGowan | title= School of Music professor of conducting to help lead Orchestre National de France | url=http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2006/march6/mitchell.shtml | work=Northern Today | date=6 Mar 2006 | accessdate=2008-08-27] , and has since conducted the orchestra and assisted Masur and guest conductors such as Seiji Ozawa and Daniele Gatti at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and on tour. In early 2008, Masur chose Mitchell to receive the inaugural Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship, entailing intensive, one-on-one study with Masur, and assisting him with concerts in Europe and America.

Mitchell was invited to conduct the National Symphony Orchestra and to study with Leonard Slatkin as part of the 2005 National Conducting Institute [cite news | author=Cecelia Porter | title= Young Conductors Show Off Their Training With the NSO | url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200940.html | work=Washington Post | date=23 May 2005| accessdate=2008-08-27] , and was invited by Slatkin to work with the NSO again in 2006. He has also studied with David Robertson, Gerard Schwarz, Gunther Schuller, Marin Alsop, Jorma Panula, and Larry Rachleff. Mitchell was the youngest of ten semifinalists from a pool of over 500 applicants in the Third International Conductors’ Competition Sir Georg Solti in 2006 [cite news | author=Felix Wadewitz | title= Nachwuchsdirigenten | url= http://www.faz.net/s/RubFBF93A39DCA8403FB78B7625AD0646C5/Doc~EE1E0CDD78F7C4149983B2C9E2452471B~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html | work=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung | date=08 Sep 2006 | accessdate=2008-08-27] , and was selected as a finalist for the Conductors Guild’s 2007 Thelma A. Robinson Award.

After completing his training, Mitchell took a position as Director of Orchestras and Music Director of the opera program at Northern Illinois University from 2005 to 2007. He led the Philharmonic in six concerts each year, and led his first two opera productions during his tenure: Igor Stravinsky’s "The Rake’s Progress" and Mark Adamo’s "Little Women". The Philharmonic was also invited to perform at the Illinois Music Educators Association's All-State Conference for the first time in over a decade in January 2007 [cite news | author=Mark McGowan | title= NIU Philharmonic invited to perform concert at Illinois Music Educators Association convention | url= http://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2007/jan/philharmonic.shtml | work=NIU News Release | date=18 Jan 2007 | accessdate=2008-08-27] . His tenure there also saw the Philharmonic's first performance of a Gustav Mahler symphony in a dozen years (Symphony No. 1 in April 2006) [cite news | author=Mark McGowan | title= NIU Philharmonic to perform Mahler’s beloved first symphony | url= http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2006/april24xtra/philharmonic.shtml
work=Northern Today | date=24 Apr 2006 | accessdate=2008-08-27] and their return to the recording studio, recording Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in May 2007. Mitchell ended his time at NIU with a week-long festival devoted to the music of Kevin Puts [cite news | author=Mark McGowan | title= Noted composer Kevin Puts to visit School of Music | url= http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2007/april9/puts.shtml | work=Northern Today | date=9 Apr 2007 | accessdate=2008-08-27] .

In February 2007, Mitchell was appointed American Conducting Fellow of the Houston Symphony by Hans Graf [cite news | author=Bruce Robinson | title= Houston Symphony names newest conducting fellow | url= http://www.myauditions.com/account/VewApt.php?EvtId=1040 | work=myauditions.com | date=10 Jun 2007| accessdate=2008-08-27] . In that role, he leads the orchestra in several dozen concerts—including on all subscription series—in Jones Hall and throughout the greater Houston area each season. His title was augmented to Assistant Conductor/American Conducting Fellow in June 2008 [cite news | author=Charles Ward | title= New symphony assistant conductor | url=http://blogs.chron.com/artsinhouston/2008/06/new_symphony_assistant_conduct.html| work=Houston Chronicle | date=10 Jun 2008 | accessdate=2008-08-27] .

In recent seasons, Mr. Mitchell has led the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall; the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter; the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra; the [http://www.memphissymphony.org Memphis Symphony] ; the Manhattan School of Music Orchestra; members of the Dallas Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project at New York’s [http://www.skanfest.org Skaneateles Festival] [cite news | author=Chuck Klaus | title= Skaneateles Festival 8/16/07 | url= http://blog.syracuse.com/critics/2007/08/skaneatles_festival_81607.html | work=Syracuse Post-Standard | date=16 Aug 2007| accessdate=2008-08-27] ; and the [http://www.nwmahlerfestival.org Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra] in Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. He also served as Kurt Masur’s musical assistant at the New York Philharmonic during the 2007-08 season. In August 2008, he made his Oregon Symphony debut [cite news | author=James McQuillen | title= Summer sounds send-off | url= http://www.oregonlive.com/artsandevents/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1219170308202710.xml&coll=7 | work=The Oregonian | date=22 Aug 2008 | accessdate=2008-08-27] , and he will open Houston-based new music ensemble [http://www.musiqahouston.org/home.php Musiqa] ’s 2008-09 subscription series. He made his European debut in 2004 in a series of three concerts with Romania’s Brasov Philharmonic (to which he will return in February 2009), and made his Latin American debut in 2005 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM in Mexico City.

References

External links

* [http://www.brettmitchellconductor.com Brett Mitchell's official website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bretter2 Brett Mitchell on YouTube]
* [http://www.myspace.com/brettmitchellconductor Brett Mitchell on MySpace]
* [http://www.houstonsymphony.org/about/conductors/mitchell.aspx Brett Mitchell's biography] at the Houston Symphony