Hailed for presenting engaging, in-depth explorations of thoughtfully curated programs, American conductor Brett Mitchell is in consistent demand on the podium at home and abroad. After a multiyear search, he was appointed Music Director of the Pasadena Symphony in April 2024. He has also served as Artistic Director and conductor of Oregon’s Sunriver Music Festival since 2022.
Working widely as a guest conductor, Mitchell has had guest engagements with many of this country’s most distinguished orchestras, including Cleveland, Houston, Detroit, National, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in downtown Chicago, with such celebrated soloists as Yo-Yo Ma and Renee Fleming.
From 2017 to 2021, Mitchell served as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony in Denver. During his five-season tenure, he is credited with deepening the orchestra’s engagement with its audience via in-depth demonstrations from both the podium and the piano. He expanded the orchestra’s commitment to contemporary American repertoire and spearheaded collaborations with many Denver community partners such as the Colorado Ballet and El Sistema Colorado.
From 2013 to 2017, Mitchell served on the conducting staff of The Cleveland Orchestra. He joined the orchestra as Assistant Conductor in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Conductor in 2015, becoming the first person to hold that title in more than three decades and only the fifth in the orchestra’s 100-year history. In these roles, he led the orchestra in several dozen concerts each season at Severance Hall, Blossom Music Center, and on tour.
From 2007 to 2011, Mitchell served as the Assistant Conductor of the Houston Symphony, leading more than 100 performances. He also held Assistant Conductor posts with the Orchestre National de France, where he worked under Kurt Masur, as well as with the Castleton Festival, where he worked under Lorin Maazel.
Born in Seattle in 1979, Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University.
