Flutist, composer, educator, and bandleader, NICOLE MITCHELL, keeps collecting honors. Newly named recipient of the Herb Alpert Award in Arts, Nicole was chosen “Flutist of the Year” in 2010 by the Jazz Journalists Association, the second time to be so named. She was designated DownBeat’s Rising Star Flutist 2005-08 and the Chicago Tribune’s Chicagoan of the Year 2006. Nicole is founder of the critically acclaimed Black Earth Ensemble, “a musical celebration of the African American cultural legacy. . . .the weaving of swing, blues, avant garde jazz, bebop, African rhythms, Eastern modes and Western classical sounds.” Premiering her tribute to Michelle Obama, Honoring Grace, for the Jazz Institute of Chicago in 2009, Nicole reprises this work for the 5th anniversary of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival.
Website: http://www.nicolemitchell.com/
