Mitchell Owens

Mitchell Owens is a composer, arranger, singer, conductor, and multi-instrumentalist. From an early age, he demonstrated a gift for music. A drummer since the age of 2 ½, he was playing drums for church services by the age of 4. He began piano lessons at age 7, and taught himself to play guitar and saxophone. His musical gifts were nurtured by ten years in the Chicago Children’s Choir under the direction and mentorship of Josephine Lee. He studied percussion formally with Patricia Dash of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Douglas Waddell of the Lyric Opera Orchestra as part of the CSO’s Percussion Scholarship Program. He also studied piano at DePaul University with Regina Serkin. While Mitchell loved singing, piano, and percussion, it became clear that composing was his real passion.

Since the age of 10, he has been arranging and composing. When he was only 16, the Chicago Children’s Choir commissioned him to be their composer-in-residence for their 50th anniversary season, and he still holds that position today. After finishing high school a year early in 2008, Mitchell started his college education at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2009, only to finish three semesters. Shortly after his return to Chicago in 2010, the CCC commissioned him to arrange the original musical, Sita Ram, put on by the Lookingglass Theater and the CCC in 2012. After scoring this musical, it was clear what was to be his next move—Los Angeles.

Since 2013, between L.A and Chicago, Mitchell has assumed the roles of producer, composer, writer, and conductor, and has worked with international artists such as Chris Brown, Chance The Rapper, SHINee (S. Korea), BOA (S. Korea), NCT U (S. Korea), Rockie Fresh, Lil’ Dicky, and many more. He has also worked on multiple film scores, and is co-composer with superstar and Grammy Award-winning Justin Timberlake on the film The Book of Love.

Mitchell’s love of music embraces a variety of styles and spans all genres. He has a passion for ensuring that his music becomes universal, and helps to create bridges that will help to shape the future for the next generation.