Kamraton Concert with Nicole Mitchell

There are two ways to watch the program: in-person at our venue Alphabet City or live-streamed online. Please note the in-house restaurant is closed on Mondays. Please scroll to the bottom to review our Covid-19 safety policies for indoor programs @ Alphabet City, including the proof of vaccination requirement.

Pittsburgh-based chamber ensemble Kamratōn presents a genre-blurring program curated by flutist, composer, and band leader Nicole Mitchell, including the premiere of a newly commissioned work. Kamratōn will be joined by guest bassist Jeffrey Grubbs of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and vocalist Anqwenique Wingfield for works by Nicole Mitchell, Yvette Jackson, Brittany J. Green, and others.

Kamratōn was founded by a group of frequent collaborators in 2015 with the goal of centering women-created and women-curated new music. Now entering its seventh season, Kamratōn has premiered over three dozen chamber works and has developed a practice that is both experimental and collaborative. Highlights of the 2021-2022 season include the premiere of a new work by Nicole Mitchell and of a full-length chamber opera by Boston-based composer Julia Werntz.

Nicole M. Mitchell is an award-winning creative flutist, composer, bandleader and educator. She is perhaps best known for her work as a flutist, having developed a unique improvisational language and having been repeatedly awarded “Top Flutist of the Year” by Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll and the Jazz Journalists Association (2010-2017). Mitchell initially emerged from Chicago’s innovative music scene in the late 90s, and her music celebrates contemporary African American culture. She is the founder of Black Earth Ensemble, Black Earth Strings, Sonic Projections and Ice Crystal, and she composes for contemporary ensembles of varied instrumentation and size, while incorporating improvisation and a wide aesthetic expression. Mitchell was a Professor of Music at University of California, Irvine, teaching composition and improvisation in the graduate program of Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology for several years. Now, she is the new director of jazz studies in the University of Pittsburgh’s Deitrich School.