Northwest Sinfonia

Clyde Mitchell launched his career on the podium after establishing himself as a French horn performer, serving today as founder and music director of Vancouver’s Lions Gate Sinfonia. His professional life has unfolded on both sides of the Canada–U.S. border.

Raised in Satellite Beach, Florida, Mitchell completed his secondary education at Satellite Beach High School between 1969 and 1973, acting as drum major of the marching band and principal hornist of the symphonic band. While still enrolled there, he joined the Brevard Symphony Orchestra. He later studied at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, supporting himself through engagements with the Baton Rouge Symphony, additional regional orchestras, local churches, Holiday on Ice productions, and assorted other groups. Moving to California State University, Northridge, he earned a master’s degree in horn performance and, following the sudden passing of his professor, stepped in as acting conductor of the university’s marching band and wind ensemble. He continued performing, holding positions with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Colombia, the Tucson Symphony, and ultimately the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; during his Montreal tenure he also instructed and coached ensembles at McGill University.

His growing commitment to conducting prompted further study, yielding a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from California State University, Long Beach, completed between 1985 and 1987. Two years later he received an artist’s diploma in conducting from the University of Southern California.

Mitchell’s first Canadian appointments came with the Georgian Bay Symphony and the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra in Ontario. He subsequently settled in Vancouver as resident conductor of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 1999 he realized a long-held ambition by establishing the Lions Gate Sinfonia, of which he remains music director; he later added the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra to his responsibilities. Guest engagements have taken him before leading Canadian ensembles as well as orchestras in Houston, Rochester, New York, and the Seattle-area Northwest Symphony Orchestra. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sarah Jackson, solo piccolo player of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2021 he recorded with the Northwest Symphony, and in 2023 with the Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; both projects feature music by composer Christopher Tyler Nickel.