BIOGRAPHY
Mitchell comes from Centerville, Ohio and began playing percussion in 2005. Here, he spent most of his time studying with Michael LaMattina, the principal percussionist of the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, he went on to study at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. While at Indiana University, Mitchell received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in percussion performance with an outside study in composition. He spent time studying with a wide variety of percussion and composition professors including Kevin Bobo, John Tafoya, Michael Spiro, Steve Houghton, Jim Rupp, Craig Hetrick, P.Q. Phan, and Aaron Travers.
Mitchell is an active performer and enjoys performing in a wide variety of musical contexts. As an orchestral performer, he has performed professionally with orchestras throughout Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Washington, and Idaho. As a chamber musician, he has performed at multiple Percussive Arts Society events, universities, and high schools around the country. Mitchell also keeps an active schedule performing and recording with a variety of bands in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest.
As an active composer, Mitchell has had compositions premiered at a variety of universities around the country. Currently, he is working on commissions for people around the country that range from solo contemporary classical music to soundtracks for visual and interactive media. Mitchell enjoys composing all types of music and is always looking for a new compositional challenge to expand his abilities as a composer. Mitchell has a specific interest in creating electro-acoustic music through the use of loop pedal technology as well as composing contemporary works involving electronic accompaniment and live sound manipulation. Aside from original compositions, Mitchell also enjoys arranging anything from classical guitar music to video game music for a variety of different performance contexts.
Mitchell began teaching in 2009 and has taught students of all ages and skill levels since then. Most recently, Mitchell held the position of Visiting Assistant Professor of Percussion/Music Technology at Boise State University for the 2021-2022 school year. During the 2017-2018 school year, Mitchell was one of four associate instructors of percussion at Indiana University. He has worked with multiple high schools around the country in a variety of different teaching environments. During the 2018-2019 school year, he was the assistant percussion director at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana. Mitchell currently lives in Seattle, Washington where he is building a private lesson studio and making plans to present clinics and masterclasses in the area.
