Howard Mitchell (11 March 1911 in Lyons, Nebraska – 22 June 1988 in

Ormond Beach, Florida Ormond Beach is a city in central Florida in Volusia County. The population was 43,080 at the 2020 census. Ormond Beach lies directly north of Daytona Beach and is a principal city of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL Metropolita ...

) was an American cellist and conductor. He was principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra from 1949 to 1969. According to music critic Ted Libbey, Mitchell "''personified the optimism that permeated Washington and America after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

; he socialized, schmoozed and charmed the ladies of high

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

society, fitting right in, playing the role of music director as he played the cello. He saw the symphony as a necessary component of the city's social and cultural life, an institution to be supported by the enlightened few and used to educate and enrich the many."'' Born in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, Mitchell attended the Peabody Conservatory and graduated with honors from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1935. Mitchell joined the National Symphony Orchestra as principal cellist in 1933. In addition to playing with the NSO, Mitchell made his conducting debut with the ensemble in 1941, and was named associate conductor in 1946. He was one of two candidates being considered to replace Hans Kindler, and in 1949 Mitchell began the longest tenure of any NSO music director to date, and one especially marked by his campaign to bring great visiting conductors to Washington. Praised for his enthusiasm, deeply involved in the community, a skilled fund-raiser and respected by musicians as one who had risen from the ranks, Mitchell embodied the optimism and “can-do” spirit of the time. Few conductors anywhere have equaled Mitchell’s extraordinary commitment to community outreach and education. Under his leadership, the NSO presented “Young People’s” and “Tiny Tots” concerts, and a ground-breaking series called “Music for Young America”. The last initiative offered programs free to school groups visiting the Washington area. Mitchell also expanded the orchestra’s touring exponentially, including its first to Europe and an astounding three months of touring Latin America. A hallmark was the inclusion of at least one American work on every concert program. Making use of the burgeoning recording industry, he devised two educational recording anthologies with the NSO. The anthologies were accompanied by study guides, allowing teachers who were not themselves musicians to incorporate music in classroom settings. On the Westminster label Mitchell made recordings with his orchestra of music by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

(

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

with violinist Julian Olefsky), Copland ('' Appalachian Spring''; ''

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

''; ''

Fanfare for the Common Man ''Fanfare for the Common Man'' is a musical work by the American composer Aaron Copland. It was written in 1942 for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under conductor Eugene Goossens and was inspired in part by a speech made earlier that year ...

''; '' El Salón México''), Creston (Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3) and Shostakovich ( Symphony No. 1; ''The Golden Age'' ballet suite).

Notes

References

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

External links

* Howard Mitchellat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Howard Mitchell obituary
at the ''

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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Howard 1911 births 1988 deaths American male conductors (music) People from Palm Coast, Florida Curtis Institute of Music alumni 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century American male musicians National Symphony Orchestra