Please press the play button above to hear the recorded interview, which was recently broadcast on KMFA 89.5.

Thirty-seven year old conductor Brett Mitchell has served as both the assistant and associate conductor of the venerable Cleveland Orchestra for the last four years. Prior to that he spent six years in Houston where he was the assistant conductor of the Houston Symphony and later, for a brief time, was music director of the Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston. Effective this month, he’ll start a new job as music director of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. But before Denver, Houston, and Cleveland, Brett Mitchell was a Longhorn. He received both masters and doctorate degrees from UT’s Butler School of Music, where he was a student from 2001 to 2005. Coincidentally, Mitchell also made his Cleveland Orchestra debut in Austin when they were here on tour back in 2014.

Mitchell returns to Texas this month for a week-long residency with the Texas Music Festival at the University of Houston. He’ll conduct Elgar, Shostakovich, and Salonen in two concerts. Rideshare host Chris Johnson called him last week to catch up while he was in Florida for a residency with the Sarasota Music Festival.

More information about the Texas Music Festival can be found here.