Brett Mitchell

Brett Mitchell currently serves as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra as well as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which he led on a four-city tour of China in 2015. In addition to his duties in Cleveland, Dr. Mitchell has led performances throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Recent and upcoming guest appearances include performances with the orchestras of Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Oregon, Rochester, Saint Paul, and Washington (National Symphony Orchestra). He has performed with such artists as Rudolf Buchbinder, James Ehnes, Leila Josefowicz, and Alisa Weilerstein, and has served as cover conductor and musical assistant for The Philadelphia Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

From 2007 to 2011, Dr. Mitchell led over one hundred performances as Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony, several of which were broadcast nationwide on public radio. He previously served as Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre National de France from 2006 to 2009 and Director of Orchestras at Northern Illinois University from 2005 to 2007. A staunch advocate of contemporary music, Dr. Mitchell has led some two dozen U.S. and world premieres over the past two decades. A native of Seattle, he holds a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was also Music Director of the University Orchestra. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Western Washington University, which later selected him in as its Young Alumnus of the Year in 2014. Dr. Mitchell furthered his training at the National Conducting Institute in Washington, D.C., and studied extensively with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival and Kurt Masur as a recipient of the inaugural American Friends of the Mendelssohn Foundation Scholarship.

During the 2015-16 season, The Houston Symphony celebrates its second season with Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada. It also continues its second century as one of America’s leading orchestras, with a full complement of concert, community, education, touring, and recording activities. The Houston Symphony, one of the oldest performing-arts organizations in Texas, held its inaugural performance at The Majestic Theater in downtown Houston on June 21, 1913. Today, with an annual operating budget of $32.8 million, the full-time ensemble of 87 professional musicians and four community-embedded musicians is the largest performing arts organization in Houston, presenting more than 300 performances annually for 400,000 people, including 97,000 children. For tickets and more information, please visit www.houstonsymphony.org or call 713-224-7575.


Program

Evening Extravaganza

Program

Saint Hildegard's Vision

Melissa Givens, soprano and narrator
Aaron David Miller, organ
John D. Schwandt, organ

Houston Symphony
Brett Mitchell, conductor

     Greeting                                                                                                           International Space Station
Jeff Williams, astronaut

    O eterne Deus                                                                                                     St. Hildegard von Bingen
                                                                                                                                                     (1098–1179)
Melissa Givens

                   *Interstellar: Cornfield Chase                                                                                                   Hans Zimmer
                                                                  Aaron David Miller and John D. Schwandt                                      (b. 1957)
                                                                                                                                                      arr. Aaron David Miller
                                                                                                                                                                          (b. 1972)

                    Laus Trinitati                                                                                                         St. Hildegard von Bingen
                                                                                       Melissa Givens

                    Improvisation on Laus Trinitati                                                                                        John D. Schwandt

   Concerto for Organ, Harp and Strings, Op. 22/3 (1926)                                                     Howard Hanson
                                                                                                                                                    (1896–1981)
Aaron David Miller
Houston Symphony

                   O virtus Sapientie                                                                                                  St. Hildegard von Bingen
                                                                                      Melissa Givens

                   Improvisation on O virtus Sapientie                                                                                 Aaron David Miller

  Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings in G Minor (1934-38)                                          Francis Poulenc
                                                                                                                                                    (1899–1963)
John D. Schwandt
Houston Symphony

*Use of the Interstellar score is performed with permission through the Hal Leonard Corporation