“The highest standard of excellence in music-making is what I’ve aspired to every day of my life for the past thirty years as a professional musician, and the single most indispensable tool I own in pursuit of that goal—bar none—is my Steinway.”
Brett Mitchell
Hailed for the breadth of his work on the podium and at the piano, Brett Mitchell has carved a unique path for himself in the world of contemporary American classical music.
As a conductor, 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 (2017-21), Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra (2013-17), and Assistant Conductor of both the Houston Symphony (2007-11) and Orchestre National de France (2006-09).
Working widely as a guest conductor, Mitchell has led the New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall, the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and the principal orchestras of Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Fort Worth, Grant Park, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, New Zealand, North Carolina, Oregon, Rochester, Saint Paul, San Antonio, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Washington. Mitchell also regularly collaborates with the world's leading soloists, including pianists Inon Barnatan, Rudolf Buchbinder, Michelle Cann, Jeremy Denk, Kirill Gerstein, Jeffrey Kahane, Olga Kern, Francesco Piemontesi, Conrad Tao, Lukaš Vondraček, and Joyce Yang.
An accomplished pianist himself, Mitchell has a devoted fanbase of his work at the keyboard, including a wide presence on social media of well more than 15,000 subscribers across platforms. His original solo piano reductions of iconic cues from film history—and recordings of other landmark works from the classical, jazz, and pop canons—are made exclusively on his 1967 Steinway Model L, which he has owned since 2014. He also concertizes at the piano, often performing in recital with musicians from his orchestras.
Born in Seattle in 1979, Mitchell holds degrees in conducting from the University of Texas at Austin and composition from Western Washington University, where he also studied piano. His two principal professional mentors were Kurt Masur and Lorin Maazel.
Brett Mitchell is a Steinway Artist.