Ian Mitchell studied clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music with Alan Hacker and read Music at London University’s Goldsmiths College. As a clarinettist and bass clarinettist, he has performed widely across Europe, the Middle East, Australia, the USA, Taiwan and North Korea, likely the only British clarinettist ever to appear there. He has recorded more than fifty programmes for BBC Radio 3 and numerous television broadcasts, with over thirty discs as soloist or ensemble player, including with Gemini, the London Sinfonietta, The Michael Nyman Band and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble. His acclaimed solo recordings have received top awards from BBC Music Magazine, including the first British CD devoted entirely to solo bass clarinet.
A founder member and Director of the chamber ensemble Gemini, Ian has premiered and commissioned over ninety works, including Cornelius Cardew’s Mountains for solo bass clarinet. He has appeared in films by Peter Greenaway and Carlos Dengler, and represented the UK at the first International Bass Clarinet Convention in Rotterdam. As a conductor, he has led Gemini on international tours and recordings. His editorial work for the ABRSM’s Spectrum series won the Music Industries Association Award for Best Classical Publication (2007). Formerly Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter and Head of Wind, Brass and Percussion at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Ian is a Fellow of Trinity Laban and holds honorary awards from the Royal Academy of Music and Trinity College London.
