Graham Mitchell - double bass

Winner of the 1998 Edinburgh International Double Bass Competition, Graham Mitchell was born in Scotland and started playing the bass at the age 15. He continued his musical studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Duncan McTier. Graham won prizes both at the Northern and the Academy, including the Hiles Medal for Orchestral Playing and the Joseph Bloch and John Mundy Prizes. Graham was also the first solo double bass player to be awarded the prestigious Dip RAM award.

Graham enjoys a busy and varied chamber music career, both performing and recording for BBC Radio 3. Among others he has performed with the Nash Ensemble, Leopold String Trio, and the Gould Piano Trio. Graham has recently recorded Schubert's Trout Quintet with the Leopold Trio and pianist Paul Lewis under Hyperion, and its release has been a huge success including being chosen for Recording of the Week for Classic FM and HMV. He has been a member of the Philharmonia Orchestra since 1998 and has recently been guest principal with the Royal Philharmonic, Stuttgart Radio (SWR), London Sinfonietta, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa (Japan) and the London Chamber Orchestra.

As a soloist Graham has performed Bottesini's Grand Duo for Violin and Double bass with the Martel Ensemble (director Malcolm Layfield) and the Fantasy on La Sonnambula with the English Soloists' Ensemble and Sound Collective. He was the first double bass player to perform at the Manchester International Cello Festival where he performed Rossini's Duetto for cello and bass.

On graduating from the Royal Academy of Music Graham was invited to become a professor of Double Bass, and in 2002 was awarded an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music for outstanding achievement in the music profession.