Nicole Mitchell
Nicole Mitchell
Flutist, bandleader, composer and educator Nicole Mitchell has been noted as “a compelling improviser of wit, determination, positivity, and tremendous talent…on her way to becoming one of the greatest living flutists in jazz,” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader). Mitchell placed first as Downbeat magazine’s “Rising Star Flutist 2005-2008, was awarded “Jazz Flutist of the Year 2008″ by the Jazz Journalist Association and ““Chicagoan of the Year 2006” by the Chicago Tribune. The founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Mitchell’s compositions reach across sound worlds, integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, pop, and African percussion to create a fascinating synthesis of “postmodern jazz.”
Recent highlights for Mitchell include a commission from the Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute of Chicago for Black Earth Orchestra and premiere of Many Paths to the Sea: A Tribute to Alice Coltrane; a chamber orchestra commission/premiere from Downtown Sound Gallery (Chicago) for Qualities of My Father, a tribute to Mitchell’s father; the commission/premiere of Xenogenesis Suite, an award winning sci-fi writer and Afrofuturist, Octavia Butler by Chamber Music America (through the generous support of Doris Duke Foundation); a premiere of new music for award-winning poet Haki R. Madhubuti and the founding of new projects including the Nicole Mitchell Quartet, and Sonic Projections. Mitchell currently directs the Wheaton Jazz Ensemble at Wheaton College and teaches jazz history at University of Illinois, Chicago. To learn more, visit her website.
Flutist, bandleader, composer and educator Nicole Mitchell has been noted as “a compelling improviser of wit, determination, positivity, and tremendous talent…on her way to becoming one of the greatest living flutists in jazz,” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader). Mitchell placed first as Downbeat magazine’s “Rising Star Flutist 2005-2008, was awarded “Jazz Flutist of the Year 2008″ by the Jazz Journalist Association and ““Chicagoan of the Year 2006” by the Chicago Tribune. The founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Mitchell’s compositions reach across sound worlds, integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, pop, and African percussion to create a fascinating synthesis of “postmodern jazz.”
Recent highlights for Mitchell include a commission from the Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute of Chicago for Black Earth Orchestra and premiere of Many Paths to the Sea: A Tribute to Alice Coltrane; a chamber orchestra commission/premiere from Downtown Sound Gallery (Chicago) for Qualities of My Father, a tribute to Mitchell’s father; the commission/premiere of Xenogenesis Suite, an award winning sci-fi writer and Afrofuturist, Octavia Butler by Chamber Music America (through the generous support of Doris Duke Foundation); a premiere of new music for award-winning poet Haki R. Madhubuti and the founding of new projects including the Nicole Mitchell Quartet, and Sonic Projections. Mitchell currently directs the Wheaton Jazz Ensemble at Wheaton College and teaches jazz history at University of Illinois, Chicago. To learn more, visit her website.
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