Roscoe Mitchell..... Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Educator
Mr. Mitchell's innovation as a solo performer, his role in the resurrection of long neglected woodwind instruments of extreme register, and his reassertion of the composer into what has traditionally been an improvisational form have placed him at the forefront of contemporary music for over thirty years.
He is a founding member of the world renowned Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and the Trio Space.
Mr. Mitchell is the recipient of many honors and awards including the following: The International Jazz Critics Poll, Down Beat Magazine [Composer "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition", Best Jazz Group (Established)-Art Ensemble of Chicago, Record of the Year-Nonaah]; Jazz Personality of the Year, City of Madison, Wisconsin; Named Madison Music Legend by “Madison” Magazine; Certificate of Appreciation, The St. Louis Public Schools Role Model Experiences Program; Honorary Citizen of Atlanta, GA; Outstanding Service to Jazz Education Award, National Association of Jazz Educators; Certificate of Appreciation, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Smithsonian Institution; and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Image Award.
He has received numerous composition and performance grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; Arts Midwest Jazz Masters; the John Cage Award for Music-Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc.; November Music2000;Michigan State University matching grant; the Minnesota Composer's Forum; Meet the Composer, Cultural Series Grant, Center for International Performance and Exhibition, Chicago IL; Mutable Music; the Comnicut Foundation; the Wisconsin Arts Board; the Institut de Recherche at Coordination Acoustique Musique, Paris; Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission Project Grant, Madison Committee for the Arts; and the Madison Festival of the Lakes Grant.
Mr. Mitchell is the founder of the Creative Arts Collective of East Lansing, Michigan, The Roscoe Mitchell Sextet, The Roscoe Mitchell Quartet, The Roscoe Mitchell Art Ensemble, The Sound Ensemble, The Roscoe Mitchell New Chamber Ensemble, and Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory.
His teaching credits include the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the California Institute of the Arts, the AACM School of Music, the Creative Music Studio, and numerous workshops and artists-in-residence positions throughout the world. On , Mr. Mitchell premiered "Fallen Heroes", a work for Orchestra, Baritone Voice, and Solo Alto Saxophone. This work was premiered by the Petr Kotik SEM Ensemble at New York City's Alice Tully Hall. “Fallen Heroes” received it's European premiere at Prague Spring Festival in the Czech Republic on May 22, 1999.
In November 2000, Mr. Mitchell premiered two new compositions in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Nederlands; Gent, Belgium; and Essen, Germany. “The Bells of Fifty Ninth Street”, a work for Alto Saxophone and Gamelan Orchestra, and “59A”, a composition for Solo Soprano Saxophone.
In 2003 he will premiere in New York and the Czech Republic “Non-Cognitive Aspects of theCity”, a composition for Baritone Voice and Orchestra, with text by Joseph Jarman.
