Uncrowned Community Builders

Grammy-award winner, Leona Mitchell has emerged as one of Americaââ?¬â?¢s leading lyric sprinto-sopranos and has been in demand the world over for opera, concerts, recitals and television appearances. She has sung hundred of performances at the major opera houses of the world, including eighteen seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She has also performed opera at prestigious houses such as: Covent Garden in London, Vienna, San Francisco, the Australian Opera, Chicago, Buenos Aires, Romeââ?¬â?¢s Caracalla, Chile, Santa Fe, the Orange Festival, Bordeaux, Detroit, Rio de Janeiro, Parma, Barcelona, Madrid, Los Angeles Opera, Berlin, Miami, Verona and at the Pyramids in Egypt.

Miss Mitchell is no stranger to some of the worldââ?¬â?¢s greatest orchestras such as: the London Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, just to name a few. She is also a highly regarded recitalist and has been presented in concert at Alice Tully Hall in New Yorkââ?¬â?¢s Lincoln Center, the Ambassador Auditorium, the UCLA Music Center, Japan, Hong Kong, Paris, Australia, Buenos Aires, Spain, the Los Angeles Music Center and countless others.

Leona Mitchell has been quite a favorite of many videos, telecasts and television. Amongst her many telecasts, she boasts three videos from the Metropolitanââ?¬â?¢s ââ?¬Å?Live from Lincoln Center Seriesââ?¬. Coincidentally, one with each of the ââ?¬Å?Three Tenorsââ?¬, ââ?¬Å?Ernaniââ?¬ with Luciano Pavarotti, ââ?¬Å?Turandotââ?¬ with Placido Domingo, and ââ?¬Å?Carmenââ?¬ with Jose Carreras. Subsequently, all three of these videos have been released on DVD. In addition, Leona has appeared on the Dick Cavett Show, the Merv Griffin Show, the CBS Morning Program, the Good Morning America Show, and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. She was also seen coast to coast on the Gala Statue of Liberty Concert telecast live from Central Park over the ABC-TV network with Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic.

Leona Mitchell has sung for four of our United Statesââ?¬â?¢ Presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. In January, 2003, Miss Mitchell sang for the newly appointed Governor of Oklahoma, Brad Henry. She was also a featured guest artist for the dedication of the magnificent, New Capital Dome in Oklahoma. Miss Mitchell was inducted into the Music Hall of Fame in 2001 and was named Oklahomaââ?¬â?¢s Cultural Ambassador of Oklahoma by Governor Brad Henry in 2004. She adds this award to her Oklahoma Womenââ?¬â?¢s Hall of Fame Award. In the 2004, she was also inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

Miss Mitchell has been very active in her home state of Oklahoma. She was an Artist in Residence at the University of Central Oklahoma in 2005-06. She also participated in the Macyââ?¬â?¢s Day Parade on the Centennial Float in November, 2005 in New York City. In 2005-06, Miss Mitchell sang at her alma mater, Oklahoma City University for Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day Oââ?¬â?¢Connor and Bishop Tutu. In the summer of 2006, she hosted the first, ââ?¬Å?Leona Mitchell Music Campââ?¬ in Enid, Oklahoma where underprivileged and talented youth had a chance to be a part of a dance, song and opera experience. This camp was sponsored through the Southern Heights Heritage and Cultural Museum of Enid, Oklahoma. Miss Mitchell has been asked to join her State for the Pasadena Rose Parade in California in 2007 ââ?¬Å?Celebrating Oklahomaââ?¬â?¢s Centennial Yearââ?¬.

Leona Mitchell has two honorary Doctorates, one from Oklahoma City University and the other from Oklahoma University. She also attended the Julliard School of Music Masters Program in New York. Ms. Mitchell hails from Enid, Oklahoma. She is the tenth of fifteen children born to Drs. Hulon and Pearl Mitchell of Enid, Oklahoma. She is married to Elmer Bush, who is also her manager and they have one son, Elmer Bush, Jr. Miss Mitchell has released two CDs, one of Praise Hymns and the other, a classical album.