DENNIS MITCHELTREEbiography…Born in Milwaukee, Mitcheltree’s initial musical instrument was the oboe, picking up the saxophone atage 12. After high school he received a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston,studying with Billy Pierce, Joe Viola and George Garzone. After two years at Berklee he moved to Japanand performed there for four months before returning to Boston to continue his musical studies.
While at Berklee he formed the first version of the Dennis Mitcheltree Quartet, performing originalcompositions and jazz standards at jazz clubs in Boston including Ryles, the 1369 Jazz Club and theWillow. He graduated magna cum laude from Berklee in 1987 and received a scholarship to continue hismusical studies at New York University, studying with Joe Lovano, Ralph Lalama and Jim McNeely.
Upon his graduation from Berklee, Mitcheltree put together the New YorkCity version of his group and has maintained the same personnel since1992(with Johannes Wallmann joining the group in 1996). His quartet hasbeen touring North American and European jazz festivals, clubs andconcert halls.
Mitcheltree has performed with Gary Bartz, Kenny Werner, George Cables,Ron Mathews, James Williams, Howard Johnson, Pete Yellin, Jim McNeely,Charli Persip, Bob Moses, Billy Tayor, Clark Terry and others. His composi-tion for jazz sextet and string quartet, Suite No. 1, was presented atCarnegie Hall in 1995. Composer of approximately 90 compositions from1983-present, including a work for chamber orchestra, Reflections:PartsI, II, and III, many have been featured on his released audio and videorecordings as a leader. Mitcheltree has also composed for film, includingdocumentaries and fiction film.
Dennis Mitcheltree is the Artistic Director of the American Music Group,a non-profit musician/composer organization which presents jazz performances throughout the New YorkCity area, including the critically acclaimed INFLUENCES concert series at Carnegie Hall. He was a MeetThe Composer award winner in 2004, an Alternate Finalist for the 1996 International JazzSaxophone Competition and a Eubie Blake Award recipient. Mitcheltree has also received grantawards from the New York State Council on the Arts and the Brooklyn Arts Council. He has beeninstrumental in founding the internet based music and recording companies, dennismitcheltree.comand americanmusicgroup.org.
A clinician at colleges and for jazz education programs worldwide, Mitcheltree also teaches privately andat New York University, the New School University and the Greenwich House Music School in NewYork City. He has been a panelist for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Jazz Fellowship programand the Brooklyn Arts Council Regrant Program.
dennismitcheltree.com [email protected] (001)917.498.9100285 Fifth Avenue #209, Brooklyn NY 11215 USA
SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY…Dennis Mitchel3 Tenor of the Times
(dennismitcheltree.com DVD041028) 2005Donna Accorso Easy To Love (Saucey Records 91402)2005
Dennis Mitcheltree Union(dennismitcheltree.com DCD990608)2004
Mitcheltree/Wallmann Duo Cityscapes(MooseWorks MWP1003)2001
Mark Peterson The Blue Room (Meppco Music) 1999Dennis Mitcheltree Transformation (Altenburgh70025)1998Karen Novy Living True (Cardinal Records CRD51388)1997Dennis Mitcheltree Brooklyn (Dengor Music DCD1013)1996
AVAILABLE PERFORMANCES/WORKSHOPS…DENNIS MITCHEL3 & DENNIS MITCHELTREE QUARTET
Jazz Trio or Quartet, original music and jazz standardsMITCHELTREE/WALLMANN DUO
Saxophone & Piano Duo, original music and jazz standardsINFLUENCES SERIES
Performance and in-depth analysis of the music of:Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington, Charles MingusJoe Henderson, Woody Shaw, Thelonious Monk
Tadd Dameron, Bud Powell, John Coltrane, Miles DavisDENNIS MITCHELTREE DECTET
Jazz Sextet with String Quartet, original music
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