Bio

Nicole Mitchell

Creative Flutist/Bandleader/Composer/Educator

Nicole Mitchell has been noted as “a compelling improviser of wit, determination, positivity, and tremendous talent...on her way to becoming one of the greatest living flutists in jazz,” (Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader). A creative flutist, composer and bandleader, Mitchell placed first as Downbeat magazine’s "Rising Star Flutist 2005-2007, "and was awarded ““Chicagoan of the Year 2006” by the Chicago Tribune. The founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, Mitchell’s compositions reach across sound worlds, integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, pop, and African percussion to create a fascinating synthesis of “postmodern jazz.” With her ensembles, as a featured flutist, and as a music educator, Mitchell has been a highlight at art venues, festivals throughout Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Mitchell has performed with creative luminaries including George Lewis, Miya Masaoka, Lori Freedman, James Newton, Bill Dixon and Muhal Richard Abrams. She also works on ongoing projects with Anthony Braxton, Ed Wilkerson, David Boykin, Rob Mazurek, Hamid Drake and Arveeayl Ra. Co-President of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Mitchell works to raise respect and integrity for the improvised flute, and to continue the bold and exciting directions that the AACM has charted for decades. Mitchell is thankful to mentors and teachers including: Jimmy Cheatham, Donald Byrd, Brenda Jones, James Newton, George Lewis, John Eaton, Fred Anderson, Ernest Dawkins, John Fonville, Susan Levitin, Mary Stolper, John Sebastian Winston and Edward Wilkerson

Highlights of 2007 included a commission from the Chicago Cultural Center and the Jazz Institute of Chicago for Black Earth Orchestra and premiere of Many Paths to the Sea: A Tribute to Alice Coltrane, a chamber orchestra commission/premiere from Downtown Sound Gallery (Chicago) for Qualities of My Father, a tribute to Mitchell's father, the commission/premiere of Xenogenesis Suite, an award winning sci-fi writer and Afrofuturist, Octavia Butler by Chamber Music America (through the generous support of Doris Duke Foundation), a premiere of new music for award-winning poet Haki R. Madhubuti and the founding of Mitchell's newest group, the Nicole Mitchell Quartet. Mitchell also currently directs the Wheaton Jazz Ensemble at Wheaton College and teaches jazz history at University of Illinois, Chicago.

Director

Black Earth Ensemble (BEE), founded by Mitchell in 1997, is a forum for her compositions and creative vision. BEE is a multi-genre, multi-generational celebration of the African American cultural legacy. Notable performances for Black Earth Ensemble include the Sons d'hiver Festival (Paris), Guelph Festival (Canada), Le Labbre Nude Festival (Rome), Kerava Jazz Festival (Finland), Vision Festival (New York) and Nouve Forme Festival (Verona). With Black Earth Ensemble, Mitchell has recorded three critically acclaimed CDs: Vision Quest, Afrika Rising and Hope, Future and Destiny. Black Earth's newest CD Black Unstoppable was just recently released on Delmark Records in fall 2007. Mitchell also leads Black Earth Strings, an acoustic quartet that brings African rhythms, contemporary sounds and swinging improvisation to a chamber music setting. In March, Nicole Mitchell directed the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble in her newly commissioned work “Episodes for Creative Ensemble,” featuring saxophonist Matana Roberts.

Flute Soloist

Nicole Mitchell has performed as featured soloist with the Orbert Davis Chicago Jazz Philharmonic at the Auditorium Theater and at Millineum Park in Chicago. In December 2005, Nicole Mitchell performed a special duo concert with pianist Muhal Richard Abrams in celebration of the AACM's 40th Anniversary in Chicago. Mitchell has also performed as a soloist with composer George E. Lewis and the International Composer's and Improvisers Ensemble (2003) in Munich, Germany. In Chicago, Mitchell has also been a featured soloist with Chicago's CUBE Ensemble, University of Chicago's Jazz X-Tet, and the New Black Repertory Ensemble of Columbia College.

Composer

Nicole Mitchell recently premiered “Xenogenesis Suite at the 2007 Vision Festival in New York” -- pieces inspired from science fiction writer Octavia Butler's award winning novel "Dawn." This work has been commissioned by Chamber Music America's New Works: Creation and Presentation Program funded through the generosity of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. In August 2007, Nicole Mitchell premiered Black Earth Orchestra at Chicago's beautiful Millineum Park with a new suite written in tribute to the late Alice Coltrane. Many Paths Meet the Sea performed for an audience of 4000 and received positive reviews. Mitchell has been Illinois Arts Council fellow for music composition (2005, 2002). Her piece "Dream Deferred for piano" inspired by Robert Shumann's "Scenes from Childhood," premiered at Ravinia in fall 2006. In November 2003, Mitchell unveiled Vision Quest: Hope, Future and Destiny (VQ), a multi-dimensional community project featuring Black Earth Ensemble and a cast of over fifty people in dance, video, acting with live music. This major project was sponsored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago through the support of the Illinois Arts Council.

Additional Projects

Mitchell currently directs other projects which include: Tindanga Mama (a multi-generational, all-woman ensemble) and the Aaya Sensation (a group showcasing the talents of Mitchell's teen daughter). In addition to her own projects, she performs with the collective, Frequency (with Ed Wilkerson Jr., Arveeayl Ra and Harrison Bankhead), the Indigo Trio (with Hamid Drake and Harrison Bankhead), the Exploding Star Orchestra (project of Rob Mazurek), the Orbert Davis Jazz Philharmonic, the New Black Reperatory Ensemble (of Columbia College), the Great Black Music Ensemble (of the Chicago AACM), the David Boykin Expanse, and Anthony Braxton's 12tet. Her newest project is founding and directing the AACM Creative Youth Orchestra, which began in fall 2006.

Educator

Mitchell has done a variety of residencies, workshops and panel discussions in Europe and the U.S. with a focus on jazz and creative music. In April 2007, Mitchell completed a residency with forty local musicians in Paris. The project, called Unity Orchestra, featured her compositions at the Banlieues Bleues festival. In 2005, she was a faculty member of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute (Canada) and the Sherwood Flute Institute (Chicago). In June 2006, and 2007, Mitchell returned to Vancouver to work with a large ensemble of talented high school musicians and lead their performance at the Vancouver Jazz Festival. Mitchell has also done residencies at Guelph, Canada, and University of Michigan. At home in Chicago, Mitchell is part-time jazz faculty of University of Illinois, Circle and directs the Jazz Ensemble at Wheaton College.