Dr. Russel C. Mikkelson - Music Director

Dr. Russel C. Mikkelson is completing his seventeenth year as Director of University Bands, Professor of Music (Conducting) and Area Head of Conducting and Ensembles at The Ohio State University, where he conducts the Wind Symphony, chairs the graduate conducting program, and oversees all aspects of the university's band program. Under his direction, the OSU Wind Symphony has performed at the 2003 College Band Directors National Association Convention, the 2014 CBDNA North Central Conference, and the 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2013 Ohio Music Educators Association Conventions, and has recorded five CD’s: Rest (Naxos 2012), Southern Harmony (Naxos 2009), Winds of Nagual (Naxos, 2007), Jubilare! (Mark Records, 2003) and Sounds, Shapes and Symbols (Mark Records, 2000). In a 2010 review of the Southern Harmony recording, Fanfare magazine proclaims "The Ohio State musicians play their collective hearts out and conductor Mikkelson shapes the music with a loving hand, wringing every last drop of emotion out of the music. If this does not give you goose-bumps, nothing will."

Director of the OSU Contemporary Music Festival and a staunch advocate for the creation of new works, Mikkelson also serves on the American Bandmasters Association Commissioning Committee and has instituted a program of regular commissioning projects for the OSU Bands. He has received praise from composers Leslie Bassett, Krzysztof Penderecki, John Corigliano, Michael Colgrass, Joseph Schwantner, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jennifer Higdon, Gunther Schuller, Lukas Foss, Augusta Read Thomas, Frank Ticheli and Michael Daugherty among others, for his musical realization of their compositions. Corigliano wrote, “Russel Mikkelson is a conductor who really understands my music, and that’s rare.”

Dr. Mikkelson is Past President of the Big Ten Band Directors Association, a Vice President of the North Central Division of the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), a member of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), NAfME, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Beta Mu, and an elected member of the American Bandmasters Association. An enthusiastic advocate of public school music education, Dr. Mikkelson has conducted All-State Bands, Festivals, and Honor Bands across the United States and internationally. Additionally, he serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Heisey Wind Ensemble, a highly skilled community band based in Newark, Ohio. He was the recipient of the 2005 Ohio State University School of Music Distinguished Scholar Award and has published articles in The Instrumentalist and The Journal of the Conductor’s Guild. As a composer/arranger, he is published through C. Alan and Daehn Publications.