W. MITCHELL OWENS, III
Composer in Residence     

Mitchell Owens is a composer, arranger, singer and instrumentalist. From an early age, he demonstrated a gift for music. A drummer since the age of 2 ½, he was playing drums for church services by the age of 4. He began piano lessons at age 7, and taught himself to play guitar and saxophone. His musical gifts were nurtured by ten years in the Chicago Children’s Choir under the direction and mentorship of Josephine Lee. He studied percussion formally with Patricia Dash of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Douglas Waddell of the Lyric Opera Orchestra as part of the CSO’s Percussion Scholarship Program. Mitchell excelled in marimba, timpani, and other percussion instruments. He also studied piano at DePaul University with Regina Serkin. While Mitchell loved singing, piano, and percussion, it became clear that composing was his real passion.

Since the age of 10, he has been arranging and composing. Mitchell’s first arrangements were featured on CDs sponsored by Morgan Park Academy to raise funds for the school. He soon began to write original music, and recorded his compositions with his own instruments and computer at home. As a high school freshman, he was the recipient of the Visual and Performing Arts Honors Scholarship at Morgan Park Academy. When he was only 16, the Chicago Children’s Choir commissioned a piece from Mitchell in honor of their 50th Anniversary season. “We Need a Word” was inspired by Mitchell’s own life experiences and his understanding of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The song was recorded on the Choir’s Songs on the Road to Freedom CD, and a documentary about the Choir’s Civil Rights tour in the summer of 2007 featured a segment about Mitchell and his composition. “We Need a Word” has been sung by elementary, high school and college choirs throughout the country. While studying composition at Interlochen Arts Academy, Mitchell was commissioned to write “One Voice” for CCC. “One Voice” was most recently performed by CCC at a gala for the International Olympic Committee in Chicago, and at the Lincoln Memorial as part of the 70th anniversary of contralto Marian Anderson’s historic performance on the steps of the Memorial.

Mitchell’s love of music embraces a variety of styles and he is equally comfortable with vocal and instrumental composition and arranging. He has a passion for ensuring that African-American musicians, and musicians of all cultural backgrounds, are free to express their own culture in their music while also mastering the “classics” that are required in traditional music education. He wants his music to be universal. As Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Children’s Choir, Mitchell is excited and honored to contribute to the organization that has played such a pivotal role in his musical development. Working with his mentor, Josephine Lee, he is committed to the mission of CCC – bringing young people of all background together through music. Mitchell is a student at Berklee College of Music, where he majors in contemporary writing and production, with a joint concentration in music business management.

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