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Ian Mitchell
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IAN MITCHELL studied with John Maclean (principal clarinet with the Carl Rosa Opera Company), and with Alan Hacker at the Royal Academy of Music. After leaving the RAM with a distinction in the final performance examination, he read Music at London University.
He has given premières of numerous works, has had many pieces written for him, and has championed the use of the bass clarinet in solo and chamber music. His recording of solo bass clarinet music (the first by a British artist) released on Black Box was awarded the top accolade in BBC Music Magazine. He gave the world première of Mountains for bass clarinet by Cornelius Cardew, and was featured performing this piece in a film about the composer. He was invited to be the UK’s featured soloist at the first International Bass Clarinet Convention held in Rotterdam in 2005. His recital included three specially commissioned works. He was a soloist in Peter Greenaway's film of Cage's 70th birthday celebrations, and has toured his own realisation of Stockhausen's Little Harlequin for dancing clarinettist. There have been solo appearances throughout Europe, the Middle East, Australia, the USA, Taiwan, and North Korea (the first - and only - British clarinettist to appear there!) with recordings for radio or television in most of these countries.
Ian Mitchell has appeared as soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Sinfonietta, and with The Monteverdi Orchestra, Fires of London, AMM, Dreamtiger, Michael Nyman Band, Gavin Bryars Ensemble, Critical Band and others. He is director of the chamber ensemble Gemini, a member of the Albanian folk band Liria and is a regular improviser, particularly with clarinettist and artist Dave Ryan in the MitchellRyan Duo.
As well as performing extensively, Ian Mitchell has a strong commitment to working with young people, encouraging them to create and perform their own music, mainly through workshops led by the pioneering ensemble Gemini. He also spends time helping instrumental teachers to develop new approaches to teaching.
Ian Mitchell was Senior Lecturer in Music Performance and University Director of Music at the University of Exeter 1996–2007. The RAM awarded him an ARAM for services to music in 1995, Trinity College of Music awarded him an Hon.TCL in 2006, and he was elected to the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education in 1999.
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Selected Publications
Publications include: chapters on Boulez’s Domaines and on Wm O. Smith in The Virtuoso Clarinet (Routledge, New York 2006); Spectrum, a collection of sixteen pieces for clarinet specially commissioned, edited and recorded for the Associated Board (2006), Winner of the 2007 MIA (Musical Industries Association) award for Best Classical Pu; Preparing for Performance (Reading, 1998), The Structure and Content of Lessons (Reading, 1999), plus numerous articles and reviews for various musical publications.
Performances & Recordings
He has recorded for disc as a soloist and with Gemini, AMM, London Sinfonietta, The Michael Nyman Band, Dagmar Krause, Critical Band and many others. He is featured soloist on a CD of music by John White on the Austrian label LondonHALL, chosen as one of the Top Forty CDs of the year in BBC Music Magazine. As a conductor Ian Mitchell has recorded with Gemini, broadcast for BBC Radio 3, ITV, toured Holland and conducted throughout the UK. |
