Conor Mitchell Explained

Conor Mitchell is a Northern Irish composer, librettist and theatre-maker.^[1]

His play, The Dummy Tree, was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for their 2009 New Connections series.^[2]

Conor has been a great supporter of Youth Music Theatre UK and has received several commissions from them including Missing Mel, Goblin Market, Eight, The Dark Tower and Barrack Room Ballads.

He split first place in the Stephen Sondheim Society's Student Performer of the Year Competition for a song he wrote entitled What Kind of Life Is This, Masha?. He split the new song competition prize with Gwenyth Herbert's Lovely London Town.^[3]

In 2012, he was commissioned by the London Gay Men's Chorus for a piece to mark the choir's 21st anniversary. With book written by Mark Ravenhill, the piece, entitled Shadow Time, explores the evolution of mentalities in respect of homosexuality in the lifetime of the Chorus. The piece premiered at the Royal Festival Hall, on 6 May 2012 during the Chorus' summer concert: A Band of Brothers.^[4]

Works

Music theatre

• Have a Nice Life^[5]
• Goblin Market^[6] based on Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market
• Matilde^[7] based on Guy de Maupassant's story, "La Parure" (The Necklace).
• Merry Christmas Betty Ford^[8]
• The Dummy Tree For the National Theatre's Connections festival.
• Ten Plagues - A Song Cycle (2011, text by Mark Ravenhill)
• The C**t of Queen Catherine - a recitation for actor and ensemble,(2016) first performed by The Belfast Ensemble at the MAC, Belfast.
• Propaganda
• The Young Pornographers
• Riot Symphony: The Sun Still Shines (2024) with Ulster Orchestra based on Pussy Riot, Sinéad O'Connor, & Sophie Scholl^{[9] [10]}

Opera

• The Musician^[11]
• Our Day (2012) a short opera. Libretto by Mark Ravenhill
• Abomination - A DUP Opera (2018)

Film

• Pretty Face

External links

• Connor Mitchell biography on the Youth Music Theatre UK web site
• http://theagency.co.uk/the-clients/conor-mitchell/

Notes and References

1. News: Conor Mitchell . . 4 February 2005 . 2009-02-17 .
2. [Royal National Theatre]
3. 2010 . Ah, youth . The Sondheim Review . XVII . 2 . 5–6. Sondheim Review, Inc. . 1076-450X .
4. London Gay Men's Chorus turns 21, The Guardian, 3 May 2012
5. News: Like to get to know you well . . 27 May 2003 . 2009-02-17 . London . Charlotte . Cripps.
6. News: Hungry young Goblins . . 16 August 2003 . 2009-02-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173009/http://www.irishnews.com/searchlog.asp?reason=denied_empty&script_name=%2Fpageacc.asp&path_info=%2Fpageacc.asp&tser1=ser&par=ben&sid=439889 . 3 March 2016 . dead .
7. News: Mathilde makes it to the stage . . 15 August 2008 . 2009-02-17 . Edinburgh . Liam . Rudden.
8. News: Merry Christmas Betty Ford - Lyric Theatre, Belfast . . 15 December 2005 . 2009-02-17 .
9. Web site: ‘Russian protest punk and symphonies might seem worlds apart. But the idea is the same: weaponise your art’. May 7, 2024. The Guardian.
10. Web site: Riot Symphony composer Conor Mitchell: ‘I’m hoping that one of Pussy Riot will come to the concert’. May 4, 2024. Irish Times.
11. News: Classical Music . . 5 December 2008 . 2009-02-17 .