Nicole Mitchell

Nicole Mitchell Gantt, born February 17, 1967 in Syracuse, New York, is an American jazz flutist and composer. She began her musical journey playing piano and viola before transitioning to the flute, receiving classical training and performing in youth orchestras. After moving to Chicago in 1990, Mitchell joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and formed the all-female ensemble Samana. Her debut album Vision Quest was released in 2001 with her label Dreamtime Records and the Black Earth Ensemble. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, she collaborated extensively with artists such as Hamid Drake and David Boykin, leading to notable releases like Frequency (2006). Mitchell's work has been recognized with multiple awards, including Down Beat magazine's "Top Flutist" from 2010 to 2022. She has also held teaching positions at various institutions, including Northern Illinois University, Chicago State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Wheaton College, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of California, Irvine, and the University of Virginia.