Herrmann Lecture: Mimi Mitchell

Mimi Mitchell enjoys a dual international career as a musicologist and as a musician, and each of these professions informs the other. As a musicologist, she edited Early Music in the 21st Century (Oxford University Press, 2024) and contributed to the celebratory volume from the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments: The First 100 Years (Praesens Verlag, 2018). She was the co-curator for The Historical Violin symposium and organized the conference Early Music in the 21st Century. As a historical violinist, Mimi won first prize at the Erwin Body (Boston) and the Early Music Network (London) competitions with The Locke Consort and can be heard on more than 50 CDs as a chamber and orchestral musician. Mimi works as a violinist/conductor, speaker, teacher, and coach, and is a senior lecturer and Masters Coordinator at the Conservatory of Amsterdam.

Press: “Early Music in the 21st Century, through excellent scholarship and compelling musical examples on the companion website, admirably succeeds in introducing students to multiple paths forward in early-music research.” - Solomon Guhl-Miller, Early Music America

Abstract for the lecture:

Rethink, Reevaluate, Reboot
How can a revival movement, which looks to the past for inspiration, move into the future?

In this presentation, I offer a variety of ideas, using primarily examples from my own field: the early music movement. Can we really recreate music as it was performed in the past? How can we research, teach, and put difficult works on stage in this new century’s rapidly changing world? As an academic, teacher, and violinist, I present a three-pronged approach of possibilities, including new technical research possibilities, contradictory educational trajectories, and daring productions of historical operas.

During a recent visit to the Bristol Museum & Art Museum, I was excited to see how this staid 19th-century edifice to the natural sciences and the arts had become engaged with the present. I found their four-point plan to make this transition inspirational.

Moving into the future is a challenge not only for the early music movement but also for many organizations, institutes, and universities. How can we best rethink, reevaluate, and reboot our own trajectories?

The Music Department’s semi-annual Herrmann Lecture Series features distinguished guest speakers who are recognized authorities in the field of music. The series is made possible through the generous support of the Frederick and Minnie Herrmann Memorial Fund.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For lecture questions, please email concerts@wellesley.edu.
For accessibility questions, please email accessibility@wellesley.edu.

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