Financial Times – 5 May 2015
Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Cheltenham, UK — review
Mike Hobart
“Their performance was as stunning as it was fresh and further collaborations are, let’s hope, in the pipeline.”
Press, Review
Press
Culture 24 – 10 November 2015
Artist’s Statement: Classically-trained vocal artist Elaine Mitchener on privacy and intimacy
Ben Miller
“My work is constantly evolving as I develop ideas and work with different artists, being challenged along the way. I approach each project with the excitement of something new and rewarding and, even if it doesn’t work, that’s okay because that’s an object lesson in itself.”
Interview, Press
The Oxford Culture Review – 30 May 2015
Industrial Intimacy: An Interview with Elaine Mitchener
John Wadsworth
“Industrialising Intimacy is a new way of working for me as it combines structured notational form, vocal improvisation, and movement that has been developed in R&D. I’m very excited to experience the outcome.”
Interview, Press
The Wire – November 2015
Freedom of movement
Philip Clark
“Conceived and performed by London based vocalist Elaine Mitchener, Industrialising Intimacy flickers into life at the point where any attempts at categorisation are doomed to fail. Mitchener herself calls the piece “An original work of contemporary music theatre, performed […] in collaboration with Dam Van Huynh, George Lewis and David Toop.” But its mash-up of composed music, free improvisation and input from a choreographer meets inside a hybrid form that has little to do with how modern composition, improvisation or dance are usually perceived.”
Interview, Press
The Telegraph – 30 December 2016
In Search of Julius Eastman
Ivan Hewett
“The steely self-possession of the words, the remorseless repetitions of both text and music, and the spell-binding intensity of the performers, above all reciter Elaine Mitchener, made for something both enthralling and moving.”
Press, Review
The Times – 19 December 2016
Apartment House
Anna Picard
“(…) Rzewski’s Coming Together (1971) opened the concert, ignited by the flame of Elaine Mitchener’s voice as she hissed and crooned and preached the words of Sam Melville, who died in the 1971 Attica prison riot. Ferociously expressive in voice and body, alert to the irony and beauty and misery of the text, Mitchener drove a thrilling performance by Apartment House, the pounding piano ostinato unflagging.”
Press, Review
The Guardian – 29 November 2016
Constantly surprising and superbly executed jazz
John Fordham
“A soft groove from drummer Steve Davis introduced a steadily striding vocal theme, from Mitchener a torrent of bird-sounds and pugnacious exclamations, a graceful drift through the seductive poetry of 13th-century Persian mystic Rumi, and a scintillating flat-out vocal inventory of life’s detritus (…) over a catchy bassline. It was constantly surprising and superbly executed cutting-edge music built on winningly familiar foundations.”
Press, Review
All About Jazz – 26 January 2017
Internationales Jazz Festival Münster, Hawkins-Mitchener Quartet review
Henning Bolte
“The brilliance and urgency, the openness and the irresistible inner swing of the movement captivated the audience (…) the group took the audience as its fifth member on a stunning many-sided sonic tour. (…) The musical action went beyond known limits.“
Press, Review
London Jazz News – 16 December 2017
REVIEW: Elaine Mitchener, Moor Mother, Philip Corner at the 2017 LCMF
Geoff Winston
“They rose to the challenge with an impressive, tactile take on key compositions which blended activism with the avante-garde, highlighting bonds between jazz and poetry.”
Press, Review