Alum Brett Mitchell conducts Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfy for NY Philharmonic

Brett Mitchell, WWU Music alum and conductor of the Pasadena Symphony, steps in to conduct Renée Fleming and Rod Gilfy in Kevin Puts' "The Brightness of Light" for the New York Philharmonic.

Brett Mitchell currently serves as Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony and Artistic Director & Conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival. He previously served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony, Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor of both the Houston Symphony and Orchestre National de France.

Mitchell was among the original collaborators who commissioned the work from Puts in 2019.

Mitchell’s passion for music ignited when he began studying piano with his first grade teacher. Throughout much of his youth, he continued to play piano, saxophone, and percussion. By high school began to compose his own music and to conduct.

Mitchell enrolled at Western in the fall of 1997. He began formal piano, composition and conducting studies.

He worked with influential professors like Roger Briggs, Margaret Brink, and Jeffrey Gilliam at WWU. He served as the music director of the North Sound Youth Symphony in Bellingham.

Photo: Composer Kevin Puts, soprano Renée Fleming, conductor Brett Mitchell, and baritone Rod Gilfry after performing The Brightness of Light with the Colorado Symphony in November 2019