Pitt names new head of jazz studies
Nicole M. Mitchell, a flutist, composer, music professor and longtime member of the Black Earth Ensemble, was named Monday as the head of the University of Pittsburgh’s jazz studies program.
In a phone interview, Ms. Mitchell called the appointment “an amazing opportunity of leadership. The program is unique. It’s the only program with a Ph.D. that exists [in jazz studies].”
Originally from Syracuse, N.Y., Ms. Mitchell, 51, has been a professor of music since 2011 at the University of California, Irvine, teaching graduate level classes in composition and improvisation. She is also vice chair of the university’s Council on Climate, Culture and Inclusion.
The late Nathan Davis founded Pitt’s jazz studies program in 1969 and ran it until his retirement in 2013. Pianist and educator Geri Allen headed the program from 2013 until her death in 2017. Ms. Mitchell met Ms. Allen through a jazz program for girls in New Jersey.
“It’s a real honor to continue the legacy that both of them have developed there,” she said.
In addition to heading up Pitt’s jazz studies department, Ms. Mitchell was named the William S. Dietrich II Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies, a new position.
She studied under Jimmy Cheatham at the University of California, San Diego, and later at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio under Donald Byrd. Moving to Chicago in 1994, she joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and eventually earned a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University.
Ms. Mitchell will assume her new duties in the fall. She said she sees Pitt as “a holistic environment with a really strong arts community and academic institution. It’s the best of both worlds in one place.”