Ceylon Mitchell
About
Flutist Dr. Ceylon Mitchell II leads the modern Cuban charanga ensemble Raíces Negras in an homage to the beloved Cuban music group Orquesta Aragón and its songwriter, Richard “La Flauta Mágica” Egües. The performance features danzón classics like “Almendra” and “Pare Cochero,” showcasing the fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms and European classical instruments. A celebration of traditional Cuban forms and Latin jazz, Mitchell and the award-winning musicians of Raíces Negras bring audiences of all ages to their feet.
The Woodwinds Department Chair with Levine Music, Dr. Ceylon Mitchell II serves the arts ecosystem as a multi-hyphenate arts leader: contemporary classical flutist, educator, and entrepreneur. On a mission to celebrate marginalized identities in music, especially Black and Latine voices, his diverse repertoire spans from Western European classical to living cultural traditions across the Americas, along with everything in between.
Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, Dr. Mitchell earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Sarah Frisof. He has performed in venues such as Boston’s Symphony Hall, the Music Center at Strathmore, the Arts Club of Washington, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with Robert Glasper.
Dr. Mitchell leads Raíces Negras, a music collective celebrating Black and Latine voices across the Americas with chamber music repertoire spanning from contemporary classical music to contemporary Pan-American jazz. The group respects traditional genres while also bending and blending them with improvisatory intersections. The collective consists of world-class musicians hailing from the United States, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Brazil, Bulgaria, Haiti, and beyond.
Workshop: Raíces Negras – Cuban Charanga
Performers:
Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, flute
Sarah Taylor Cook, vocals
Chuco Mendoza, bass
Joshua Jenkins, piano
Bruno Lucini, percussion
Join contemporary classical flutist Ceylon Mitchell and members of the Raíces Negras music collective to explore the percussion section instruments and the composite rhythmic elements that form the groove accompaniment in Cuban and Brazilian music, born from the rich amalgamation of Spanish/Portuguese folk music formulas and African Rhythms. This workshop will include live and recorded musical examples that pay homage to famous influential Cuban flutists, including Eduardo “Richard” Egues and Orlando “Maraca” Valle, as well as Afro-Brazilian, Pixinguinha. Try your hand at maintaining ostinato rhythms on percussive instruments like the clave, güiro, and congas while the main lead instruments like flute and piano improvise over these grooves. Older students with instrument experience will gather and trade measures of improvisations, incorporate common rhythmic fragments, motives, and melodic riffs, and eventually venture into free improvisation.
Single: $1,800
Back-to-Back: $2,400
Sound/Backline provided by the artist
Performance: Raíces Negras – Spirits of Nature, American Women Composers
Performers:
Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, flute
Erin Snedecor, cello
Dr. Elizabeth Hill, piano
Join us for a chamber music concert celebrating four innovative and prominent American women composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. Spotlighting the flute, cello, and piano, each work explores an element of nature and the spirits that dwell within, ranging from the Negro spirituals in Undine Smith Moore’s “Afro-American Suite,” the motions and gestures of the beach in Tania León’s “Sands of Time,” a day in the life of the Papua New Guinean rainforest in Elisenda Fábregas’s “Voices of the Rainforest,” or the avant-garde timbral illusions and mythical imagery of Clarice Assad’s world-premiere commission entitled “Flight of the Fairies.” The program focuses on universal thematic material, told by talented voices from diverse backgrounds. While the storytelling of Moore and Fábregas is much more literal and accessible, the illustrative atmospheres from Assad and Leön are stark, evocative, and ambiguous. Within these musical works, audiences will discover and enjoy the worldly and otherworldly soundscapes these composers can elicit.
Sample Repertoire:
Tania León (Cuban-American) – Arenas D’un Tiempo (1992) – 12min
Elisenda Fábregas (Spanish-American) – Voices of the Rainforest (2008) – 23min
Clarice Assad (Brazilian-American) – Flight of the Fairies (2024, world-premiere commission) – 4min
Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (African-American) – Afro-American Suite (1969) – 13min
Single: $1,200
Back-to-Back: $2,000
Backline: Piano needed
Performance: Raíces Negras – Brazilian Choro: The Musical World of Pixinguinha
Performers:
Ceylon Mitchell, flute
Cristian Perez, guitar
Lucas Ashby, percussion
Andre Coelho, percussion
Pablo Regis de Oliveira, cavaquinho
Seth Kibel, tenor sax
The Brazilian Choro is an intriguing, imaginative, and beautiful music. This musical genre, birthed in Rio de Janeiro in the mid-19th century, represents the height of Brazilian nationalism. Like the national dish feijoada, where a lot of different ingredients are thrown in to make the stew, Choro has its roots in African syncopated rhythms and European dance forms, including the lundú, the polka, and the habanera, creating a very unique style. Traditionally, the common instrumentation includes the flute leading with ornamented melodies, the guitar and cavaquinho providing improvised harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment, as well as the melodic counterpoint and percussion, usually pandeiro, providing the rhythmic backbone aligned with the solo melody. Though the genre is typically instrumental, at times, some compositions have accompanying lyrics. The improvisatory nature of Choro mirrors that of North American jazz, and virtuosity is a hallmark of the style. Arguably, the most influential composer in the preservation of Choro during the 20th century was the Afro-Brazilian composer and flutist Alfredo da Rocha Vianna Jr. (1897–1973), or Pixinguinha, as he was more commonly known. He famously
revolutionized counterpoint in choros and samba. As part of this program, you will hear a selection of famous compositions by him and his contemporaries.
Sample Repertoire:
Carinhoso
Cochichando
Um a Zero
Lamentos
A Flor Amorosa
Lundu Característico
Primeiro Amor
Zinha
Atraente
O Abre Alas
Corta-Jaca/Gaucho
Single: $2,100
Back-to-Back: $3,200
Sound/Backline provided by the artist
Performance: Les Amorces – Global Women’s Voices
Performers:
Dr. Ceylon Mitchell, flute
Amanda Densmoor, soprano
Dr. Yejin Lee, piano
Description of Program:
We celebrate music composed by women around the world and across the ages. With a spotlight on the flute, voice, and piano, this program explores historical and living women’s voices from the Baroque Era to the Modern Era, including a few of their male contemporaries. From Cecil Chaminade’s French Romanticism to Amy Beach’s dense and dramatic lieder, topics include nature, nostalgia, lust, and love, full of contrasting characters, languages, and moods. Audiences will discover and enjoy rich poetry and musical soundscapes these composers illustrate within these musical works.
Single: $1,200
Back-to-Back: $2,000
Backline: Piano needed
| Art Forms | |
|---|---|
| Audience Age | |
| Program Type |