Nicole M. Mitchell—Creative Flutist/Composer/Educator
www.nicolemitchell.com; blackearthmusic@gmail.com
EDUCATION
2000 Northern Illinois University, M.M. Flute Performance (Jazz, Classical)
1998 Chicago State University, B.A. Music (cum laude)
NOTABLE TEACHERS AND MENTORS
Flute Mary Stolper, John Fonville, Ann Laberge, Susan Levitin
Jazz Jimmy Cheatham, Donald Byrd, Wendall Logan, Art Davis
Creative Music George Lewis, Edward Wilkerson, James Newton, Anthony Braxton
Composition John Eaton, Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, Alvin Singleton
Music Theory Ed Klonosky
COMMISSIONS
2013 When Life's Door Opens for Chamber Orchestra and 3 Vocalists (Tri-Centric Orchestra,
Roulette, New York)
2012 Mother Earth: Black Earth Ensemble and Ballake Sissoko (Kora) (Manzoni Theater, Milan)
Harambee: Road to Victory for Flute, Choir and Orchestra (Chicago Sinfonietta)
Cave of Self-Induction, two flutes and percussion (International Contemporary Ensemble)
2011 Flight for Freedom for Creative Flute and Orchestra (Chicago Composers Orchestra)
Stray Light, sound installation (David Hartt, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago)
Stealing Freedom in Broad Daylight for Orchestra (American Composers
Orchestra/Columbia Univ)
2010 Intergalactic Beings: Xenogenesis II (Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art)
Arc of O (Chicago Jazz Festival)
Mother Nature Suite (Chicago Jazz Festival)
2009 Honoring Grace: Michelle Obama (Jazz Institute of Chicago)
2008 South Side World, Cubical 4 (Now Orchestra, Vancouver)
Inside a Dream, for flute, string quartet and piano (Reginald Robinson)
2007 Many Paths Meet the Sea (Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs)
Qualities of My Father (Umbrella Organization, Chicago).
2006 Dream Deferred (Ravinia Festival, Chicago)
Harambee Project (Made in Chicago Fest and Estrada Arts, Poland)
Three Pieces for String Quartet (FAQ String Quartet)
Cause and Effect (University of Chicago Jazz X-tet)
2003 Vision Quest: Hope, Future and Destiny (Jazz City, Illinois Arts Council)
LECTURES / PANEL DISCUSSIONS
2012 Keynote Speaker "Jazz, Race and Politics," Vancouver Jazz Festival Colloquim
2009 Keynote Speaker “Improvisation, Law and Justice” Conference, Montreal, Canada
“Art As Social Discourse: Xenogenesis Suite,” Crossings: Jazzin’ the Cultural Fields, Paris
“Creative Improvisation and Composition,” Jazz and Creative Music Workshop, Banff, Canada
“The AACM: It’s Role in Chicago and the Musical World” MLA Conference, Chicago.
“The Future of Jazz,” NEA Jazz Panel, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,
Harlem
“Black Music and Social Empowerment,” Tufts Univ. Emerging Black Leaders Symposium,
Boston
2008 “The AACM: A Power Stronger Than Itself,” The Kitchen, New York; Chicago Cultural Center,
2005 “AACM and Music Actuelle,” Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium, Guelph, Canada
RESIDENCIES AND WORKSHOPS
2012 Cornish College of the Arts
Banelius Blues Jazz Festival
2011 Vancouver Jazz Festival
2010 Chicago Jazz Festival Artist in Residence; Vancouver Jazz Festival; Sherwood Flute Institute
2009 Banff Workshop for Jazz/Creative Music; Oberlin College; Vancouver Jazz Festival; University
of New Mexico; California State University Fullerton; University of Kentucky; Sherwood
Conservatory
2008 Dartmouth College; Amherst College; Howard University; Carthage College; Sherwood
Conservatory; Northeastern Illinois University; Vancouver Jazz Festival
2007 Banlieues Blues Festival, Paris; Vancouver Jazz Festival; Sherwood Conservatory
2006 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Canada Jazz in the Schools; University of Guelph
(Canada); Vancouver Jazz Festival; Sherwood Conservatory; Estrada Arts (Poland)
2005 Vancouver Creative Music Institute; Sherwood Conservatory; Haystack Mountain School,
Maine
LEADER/COMPOSER/FLUTIST/FOUNDER
1998-present Black Earth Ensemble
2001-present Black Earth Strings
2007-present Black Earth Orchestra
2007-present Ice Crystal Quartet
2006 Harambee Project
2004-2005 Tindanga Mama
1997-2000 Dreamseekers
MUSIC COLLABORATIONS (flute/alto flute/piccolo/vocals)
2008-present Truth or Dare (with Renee Baker and Shirazette Tinnin)
2006-present Anthony Braxton's 12(+1)tet
2005-present Rob Mazurek's Exploding Star Orchestra
2005-present Indigo Trio (with Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake)
2005-present AACM Great Black Music Ensemble
1997-present David Boykin Expanse
2000-present Frequency (with Ed Wilkerson, Arveeayl Ra, Harrison Bankhead)
SELECTED PERFORMANCES
2012 Banelius Blues Festival, Paris; Cornish College of Music, Seattle; Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago; Avaulx Jazz Festival, France; Symphony Center, Chicago
2011 Outpost, Albuquerque; Sons d’Hiver Festival, Paris; Junas Jazz Festival, Junas, France; Maggio
Florientino, Florence, Italy, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago; Stockholm Jazz Festival
2010 Vancouver Cultural Olympiad Concerts; Chicago Jazz Festival; Mito Festival, Milan, Italy; Sons d’Hiver
Festival, Paris; Made in Chicago Festival, Poznan, Poland; Jazz Goes to Town, Prague; Atlantique
Festival, Brest, France; Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Chicago; South Shore Jazz Festival, Chicago;
Chicago Symphony Center
2009 Chicago Jazz Festival; Sant’Anna Arresi Festival, Sardinia, Italy; Sons d’Hiver Festival, Paris; Umbria
Jazz Festival, Perugia, Italy; Insolent Noise Jazz Festival, Pisa, Italy; Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada;
Suoni Del Popolo Festival, Montreal; Banff Centre, Canada; Tri-C Jazz Festival, Cleveland
2008 Sons d’Hiver Festival, Paris, Chicago Symphony Center; Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada; Centro
Cultural del Matadero, Huesca, Spain; Antico Teatro Sociale, San Vito, Italy; Cinema-Teatro
Torresino, Padova Italy; Teatro Circo Braga, Braga. Portugal; Centro Congressi Artemide, Castel San
Pietro, Italy; Torun Dwor Artusa, Torun, Poland
2007 Insolent Noise Jazz Festival, Pisa, Italy; Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada; Vision Festival, New York;
Chicago Cultural Center; Millennium Park, Chicago; Victoriaville Festival, Canada; Torun Dwor
Artusa, Torun, Poland; Banlieues Bleues Festival, Paris; Guelph Jazz Festival, Guelph, Canada; La Sala
de Rosa, Montreal; Chicago Jazz Festival.
2006 La Labbre Nude Festival, Rome; Made in Chicago, Poznan, Poland; Banlieues Bleues Festival, Paris;
AACM-New York Concert Series; Ravinia Festival, Highland Park, U.S.; Chicago Jazz Festival;
Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada; Millennium Park, Chicago; Chicago Cultural Center; Auditorium
Theater, Chicago; WTTW Centerstage, Chicago
2005 Sons d’Hiver Festival, Paris; Kerava Jazz Festival, Kerava, Finland; Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago; Vancouver Jazz Festival, Canada; Suoni de Popolo Festival, Montreal; Deer Isle Jazz
Festival, Maine; Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago; Chicago Jazz Festival; Millennium Park,
Chicago; Vision Festival, New York.
FELLOWSHIPS
2012 Doris Duke Award
2011 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts
3Arts Award in Music Composition
2010 Alpert/Ucross Residency Prize
Meet the Composer Creative Connections Grant for Intergalactic Beings
2008 3Arts Ragdale Residency Award
2007 Chamber Music America: New Works Grant for Xenogenesis Suite
Illinois Arts Council Special Assistance Grant for Xenogenesis Suite Multi-Arts Project
2005 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for Music Composition
GRANTS
2010 Meet the Composer Creative Connection Grant
2009 Chicago Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) Grant
2008 Chamber Music America: New Works Commission
Illinois Arts Council Special Assistance Grant
2005 CAAP Grant
2003 Jazz City: Illinois Arts Council funding for multi-arts play (Vision Quest)
CAAP Grant
2001 CAAP Grant
1990 Ford Mellon Research Grant
AWARDS
2012 Top Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
Flutist of the Year, Jazz Journalist Association
2011 Top Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
Flutist of the Year, Jazz Journalist Association
2010 Artist in Residence, Chicago Jazz Festival
Flutist of the Year, Jazzit Magazine (Italy)
Flutist of the Year, Jazz Journalists Association
Top Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
External Award, University of Illinois: Chicago
2009 Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
2008 Flutist of the Year, Jazz Journalists Association
Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
Top Ten, Rising Star Composer, Downbeat Magazine
2007 Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
2006 Chicagoan of the Year, Chicago Tribune
Who's Who in America
Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
2005 1st Place, Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, Rising Star Flutist
2005 Illinois Arts In Education Roster
Top Rising Star Flutist, Downbeat Magazine
ORCHESTRA WORK (flute/alto flute/piccolo)
2010 Tri-Axium Orchestra, Conductor/Composer Anthony Braxton
2005-present Chicago Sinfonietta, Conductor Paul Freeman
2005-2010 Joffrey Ballet Orchestra, Conductor Leslie Dunner, (Cinderella, Othello, Nutcracker, Rite of Spring)
2004 Harold in Chicago, an Opera by Ed Wilkerson Jr.
2004-present Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Conductor/Composer Orbert Davis
2001-2006 New Black Repertory Ensemble, Columbia College
1998 Northern Illinois University Philharmonic
1997-98 University of Chicago Chamber Orchestra
SELECTED RECORDINGS
Nicole Mitchell: Awakening (Delmark 2011); Before After with Joelle Leandre and Dylan van der Sheff (Rogue Art 2011), Nicole Mitchell’s Sonic Projections: Emerald Hills (Rogue Art, 2010, CD), Anaya: Indigo Trio (Rogue Art, 2009, CD); Renegades: Black Earth Strings (Delmark, 2009, CD); Xenogenesis Suite: Black Earth Ensemble (Firehouse 12, 2008, CD); Black Unstoppable: Black Earth Ensemble (Delmark Records, 2008, CD); Black Unstoppable: Black Earth Ensemble (Delmark Records, 2008, DVD); Anthony Braxton 12(+1)tet Victoriaville (Victoriaville, 2008, CD); Anthony Braxton: Live at Iridium, Anthony Braxton 12(+1)tet (Firehouse 12, 2007, CD); ICI Ensemble and George Lewis, (Pao Records, 2007, CD); Frequency (Thrill Jockey Records, 2006, CD); Indigo Trio: Live In Montreal (Greenleaf Music, 2005, CD); Hope, Future and Destiny (Dreamtime, 2004, CD); Afrika Rising: Black Earth Ensemble (Dreamtime, 2002, CD); Vision Quest: Black Earth Ensemble (Dreamtime, 2001, CD)
TEACHING
2011-Present University of California, Irvine: Assistant Professor of Music
2008-2011 Chicago High School for the Arts: part time Jazz Faculty
2006-2010 University of Illinois, Chicago: Visiting Lecturer, (2009), Adjunct Professor (2006-09)
2006-2009 Wheaton College: Director, Jazz Band
2001-2006 Chicago State University: Instructor, Music Theory
2001-2007 Northeastern Illinois University: Instructor, General Music
Spring 2006 Northern Illinois University: Instructor, Jazz History
VOLUNTEER WORK
2010 Board member, Tricentric Foundation
Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) 45th Anniversary
Celebration, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
AACM Creative Music Institute at University of Illinois Chicago (three days of workshops)
AACM Music School Showcase, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
2009 Founder, Chicago Creative Music Institute (two days of workshops)
2009-2011 Chairman, Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Chicago Chapter
2006-2010 Board member, Jazz Institute of Chicago
2006-2009 Sons d’hiver Festival Partnership with AACM
2006 Velvet Lounge relocation fundraising concerts
2005-2008 Grantwriting for AACM (Oak Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Illinois Arts Council,
MidAtlantic Arts Foundation
2005 AACM 40th Anniversary Celebration, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
2004-2006 Education and Community Coordinator, Jazz Institute of Chicago
2003-2005 Founder, Black Future Month Jazz Festival (3 day festival)
2001-2012 Board member, AACM, Chicago Chapter