Nicole Mitchell is a creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. Mitchell was awarded “Jazz Flutist of the Year” (2008) by the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat magazine’s #1 Rising Star Flutist from 2005-2009. Her compositions reach across sound worlds, integrating new ideas with moments in the legacy of jazz, gospel, pop, African percussion and classical contemporary music. Through extended techniques and coupling her soprano voice with the flute, Mitchell has created her own unique musical language in jazz; her mission is to raise integrity and respect for the improvised flute.

Nicole Mitchell is the founder of critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble and Black Earth Strings, and her work has been a highlight at art venues and festivals throughout Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Mitchell is the first woman president of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). As an educator, she has taught jazz and composer residencies at Vancouver Jazz Festival, University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, University of New Mexico, Cal State University Fullerton, Guelph University, and others.

Named Chicagoan of the Year 2006 by the Chicago Tribune, Mitchell is a member of Chicago Sinfonietta, Orbert Davis’ Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Anthony Braxton’s 12+1-tet, Rob Mazurek’s Exploding Star Orchestra, and David Boykin Expanse.

As a composer, she has won fellowships from Chamber Music America and the Illinois Arts Council and has been commissioned by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Ravinia and the Jazz Institute of Chicago.

Mitchell has six recordings as leader and several recordings as co-leader. Mitchell currently is a Visiting Professor at University of Illinois: Chicago, where she directs the UIC Jazz Ensemble, and teaches jazz history. She also teaches jazz at ChiArts, Chicago’s first public high school for the arts. On April 30th, Nicole Mitchell will premiere a new work entitled “Intergalactic Beings” at the Museum of Contemporary Art and she is honored to be the Artist in Residence at the 2010 Chicago Jazz Festival in August.