Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ceylon Mitchell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ceylon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
The story of how I became a classically trained flutist is both common and distinctive. Like many K-12 students in my hometown of Anchorage, Alaska, I first started instrumental music education on my very first recorder back in 4th grade. Then, in my school district, 6th grade was the time to choose a band or orchestra instrument. I’ll always remember walking into my hometown music store, aptly named The Horn Doctor, and hearing a flute in-person for what felt like the very first time. I loved the sound, bought my first album of Hubert Laws (I eventually got to meet this pioneering Black flutist), and was hooked! You could say the flute chose me.
After inspiring high school band and orchestra experiences, including the Anchorage Youth Symphony and All-Northwest Band, I traveled to the east coast for college. Never one to avoid a challenge, I initially double majored in music performance and math (my high school physics teacher actually wanted me to become an engineer) in Rochester, NY. When I transferred to Boston University, I turned my full attention to music while enjoying a brief career as a Division 1 athlete in Track & Field. As a side hustle, I began an interest in multimedia, video recording performance recitals. Working with my classmate, oboist Dr. Courtney Miller, and standout artists from So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD), I helped create music videos merging classical music with cultural dance traditions, such as hip-hop and belly dancing, with the goal of broadening audience interest in classical music.
For graduate studies in flute performance, I enrolled at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). During my first-year music research class, I came across Sue Miller’s book, Cuban Flute Style: Interpretation And Improvisation. I was fascinated by the “Latin tinge” as well as the popular dance styles (danzón, son, cha cha cha, etc) and charanga ensembles of Cuba in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which feature the flute as a lead voice. The style, important performance pioneers, and major tunes gained wide prominence in the 1940s and 1950s, in Cuba and abroad. Writing an academic research paper on Cuban music was my first real introduction to and study of a flute tradition beyond Western European classical music. Excitedly, I would have the opportunity to form my own charanga ensemble as part of an artist residency years later.
During the second year of my master’s degree, I was introduced to Brazilian music and culture through a musical about Carmen Miranda, the Brazilian Bombshell of the 1940s, known as The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat. Pointless Theatre company, based in Washington D.C., presented Gimme a Band, Gimme a Banana! The Carmen Miranda Story, a samba puppet spectacle that retells how Carmen helped introduce Brazilian culture to the rest of the world. This innovative production needed an onstage Brazilian choro ensemble, including a flute soloist. At the last minute, I received some form of communication (maybe an email, text, or call) saying they needed a sub to fill the spot. Did I have any experience with Brazilian choro or samba at the time? Nope! But I was a musically curious graduate student who was open to the experience, so I accepted the gig. Little did I know what new fascinating genres I was getting myself into and the amazing new musicians I would meet and collaborate with to this day.
After finishing my master’s degree at UMD, I returned to and expanded upon my love of multimedia production by starting a communications position on campus and enrolling in the journalism school’s graduate certificate in multimedia journalism. In the media entrepreneurship course, I brainstormed a business idea around “a musician helping other musicians” with digital marketing and branding. From first-hand experience promoting my own music career, I felt I had a strong understanding of the market problem and my solution for clients. This final project eventually materialized and matured to become an actual business: M3 | Mitchell Media & Marketing, LLC.
Knowing what I know now, I would tell my younger self “to always stay true and focused to the vision and purpose God places on your heart. Not everyone will understand or believe in it, but eventually you will find your tribe.”
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
Well, I’m a musician, educator, entrepreneur, husband, father, and believer. As an artist, I’ve always loved exploring and sharing stories across time, place, and cultures through a musical lens. During college, I learned that not all stories have been represented equitably in classical music curricula, concert programs, artistic personnel on stage, and beyond. Given that reality, I’ll never forget how revolutionary an experience it was performing in an all-Black orchestra with Robert Glasper, Lalah Hathaway, Meshell Ndegeocello, and others at The Kennedy Center for Glasper’s groundbreaking, award-winning, and genre-shattering album—Black Radio. Through freelance gigs, graduate school experiences, grant projects, and other professional development opportunities, I cemented my mission to celebrate marginalized cultures in music, especially Black and Latine voices. I love exploring Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian cultural traditions, specifically Cuban charanga and Brazilian choro. These rich traditions broaden my classical training, demand respect and thoughtful music study, fill me with joy, and proudly connect me to my ancestors within the African diaspora while strengthening solidarity with my Latine brothers and sisters. This artist mission has led me through workshops, residencies, and meaningful programs. I am now planning a debut album with repertoire spanning from classical to folk and popular genres within Afro-Latine cultures.
As an educator, I believe in making musical experiences accessible to all students, especially for those from traditionally underrepresented communities. Through music lessons, I provide students with individualized instruction rooted in fundamentals and fun. As a dear mentor once told me, “laughter lubricates learning.” My mission is empowering and encouraging students to make music alive and applicable in their own lives, whether they’re passionate about symphony orchestras or salsa bands, funk or fusion, a cappella or Appalachian. Regardless of their career paths as adults, I want my students to acquire life-long skills that allow them to analyze, consume, support, and engage with art in their communities. Now, a flute faculty member with Levine Music, a flute instructor at Sidwell Friends School, and the flute choir director at Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra, I’ve been fortunate to work with, guide, and learn from numerous students over the years. My ultimate goal is to become a university music professor.
As an entrepreneur, I support creatives, arts organizations, and beyond with multimedia production and digital marketing consulting as the founder, creative director, and principal consultant of M3 | Mitchell Media & Marketing, LLC, a company I co-own with my wife. Working in this role, in addition to my freelance musician duties, certainly sets me apart in my field. It’s incredibly fulfilling to support other creatives, organizations, and beyond with a unique skill set that was fostered through independent study, guided by issue area experts, as well as marketing and communications full-time positions while completing graduate studies in music performance. M3’s tailored services include photography, videography, web design, and digital media marketing. Past clients have included Americans for the Arts, Washington Performing Arts, International Contemporary Ensemble, The New School, individual artists as well as culturally-specific arts organizations such as Quinteto Latino, EducArte, and the Arts Administrators of Color Network. Whether folx need help creating content, capturing memories, managing their digital presence, or just learning best practices, it is my entrepreneurial mission to support the success of their brands and businesses in our 21st-century landscape!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Celebrating the stories and dreams of marginalized cultures, especially Black and Latine voices, brings me excitement and purpose. I love playing my part in decolonizing classical music with programming by and collaboration from diverse musicians committed to presenting an expansive palette of musical styles and cultural traditions. My passion for and research in Black and Latine flute traditions disrupts and speaks against the deeply-rooted and damaging “dominant” narratives of our global past, rooted in white supremacy and patriarchy, that have sought to marginalize and exclude other cultures—ALAANA (African, Latine, Asian, Arab, and Native American), LGBTQIA2S+, etc.—for the purposes of power, position, and privilege. Commissioning and programming classical music works by womyn and people of color broadens the genre’s traditional scope for audiences and empowers the next generation of musicians. Occasionally, I also get the chance to also support these musicians with my branding and marketing services for their careers. There’s nothing better than sharing space and providing platforms for folx to thrive in their purpose.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
2019-2022 illustrates a particular period of growth and resilience in my life. After marrying my best friend, welcoming a son into the world, and getting accepted into UMD’s doctorate program as well as Strathmore’s artist residency program, life seemed to be filled with endless possibilities. However, the emergence of a global pandemic proved to be a major obstacle that threatened the momentum of my career, not to mention the well-being of my family. Together with my ever-patient, loving, and brilliant wife, Denys Symonette Mitchell, a maternal health policy expert, we navigated uncertainty one day at a time with faith, joy, and gratitude. Shifting to a virtual education from home for graduate school and residency music studies was very challenging and created its fair share of woes. However, on the positive side, this alternative style of learning allowed me to spend more time with my family (self-care) and rely upon my multimedia skills to collaborate with other creatives and create original content through live streaming and high-quality recordings. Not surprisingly, I attracted clients who also desired high-resolution content creation for their own missions. The pandemic served as another reminder of the value my multimedia skills bring to my multi-hyphenate career. With an unorthodox, multifaceted, and demanding career in the arts, I could not maintain my peace and balance without my family’s love and support. Now with two toddler sons, Denys and I have navigated the country’s worsening childcare crisis…as first-time homebuyers in a new city…during a global pandemic…while I finished my doctoral program. One day, I’ll have to write a book, a chapter, or maybe a featured article in a prestigious magazine – something!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ceylonmitchell.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceylonmitchell
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ceylonmitchell
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceylonmitchell/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ceylonmitchell
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CeylonMitchellFlutist
- Other: https://m3mitchellmedia.com/portfolio
Image Credits
See file names for photo credits.