Michael Mitchell

Professor of Music, Choral Music
Director of Choral Activities 
Conducting, Oakland Chorale, University Chorus

Contact: [email protected]
(248) 370-2002

Michael A. Mitchell is Professor of Music at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan where he serves as Director of Choral Activities while conducting the Oakland Chorale, the University Chorus, and the Symphony Chorus. In addition, Mitchell supervises the graduate program in choral conducting and teaches choral literature and conducting as well as a popular summer course on the history of rock music.

In 2019, Dr. Mitchell was appointed the third Artistic Director of the prestigious Detroit Concert Choir, a group that has won Choir of the World at the Langollen International Eisteddfod. Since 2005, Dr. Mitchell has been associated with the Academic Choir Ivan Goran Kovacic in Zagreb, Croatia as Resident Guest Conductor. He has lectured at Zagreb University, The University of Novi Sad in Serbia, and was the first American to lecture at the Slovak University of Music and Art in Bratislava, Slovakia. For nine concert seasons he served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Detroit based Cantata Academy Chorale, leading that group on three acclaimed European concert tours and multiple performances with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings. He has led the Oakland University Chorale on state, regional, national and international concert tours.

He has conducted masses and full concerts at many of Europe’s leading sacred music venues, including St. Mark’s Basilica and Chiesa San Salvador in Venice, St. Nicholas Church in Prague, Peterskirche in Vienna, St. Matthias Church and St. Stephen’s Basilica in Budapest, the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Bratislava, the Church of St. Jacob in Ljubljana, and St. Catherine’s Church in Zagreb.

In the popular music world, Dr. Mitchell has prepared and conducted choruses for the Rolling Stones and Sarah Brightman.

Because of his reputation as a dynamic, energetic conductor and teacher, Dr. Mitchell has conducted honor choirs and led choral festivals across the US, and has been invited to perform over 250 guest clinics with individual choirs over the course of his career.

As a composer, Dr. Mitchell’s music has been performed throughout the United States, including at several conferences of the American Choral Directors Association.

Before coming to Michigan, he taught at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was a choral director and music supervisor in the public schools in Texas.

Dr. Mitchell studied conducting, music education, and voice at the University of Texas at Austin and received his doctorate in conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where he served as assistant to the legendary conductor Eph Ehly. His other teachers include Andre Thomas, Jerry McCoy, Patrick Gardner, Mary Breden, Morris Beachy, and John Silantien. As a doctoral student he was the winner of the UMKC Chancellor’s Award for Academic Merit and was a finalist in the American Choral Directors Association national conducting competition.

Dr. Mitchell is a member of The American Choral Directors Association and currently serves that organization as Past President for the state of Michigan. He is also a member of the American Music Center, The College Music Society, The Michigan School Vocal Music Association, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.