On July 1, 2019, the University of Pittsburgh’s Music Department embarks on a new era. On this date, the university will introduce the William S. Dietrich II Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies Professor Nicole Mitchell Gantt as the director of Jazz Studies and director of the Creative Arts Ensemble.
Since it’s baseball season, it’s fitting to use a sports metaphor, the University has hit a home run with their latest appointment. In fact, it hit a bottom of the ninth inning, two-out walk-off grand slam! Professor Gantt is a giant of an artist and a veritable beast of a player, composer, and bandleader.
Gantt was raised in Syracuse, New York until age eight when her family moved to Anaheim, California. As a child, she studied piano and viola, but the flute is the instrument she chooses to touch the world. As a flutist, Professor Gantt is a master artist (to put it mildly). She plays the flute with a command of tone, style, articulation and artistry that is on par with any accomplished player in the world. She gently but passionately commands her instrument and it becomes an extension of her mind and soul. She skillfully coaxes her flute through a range of emotional complexities which easily draws in the empathetic listener. Gantt is a player that every true music lover must hear. It’s hard to believe that this talent is now part of the Oakland Campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Nathan Davis would be standing and applauding.
Believe it or not, Gantt began her professional career as a street musician in San Diego, California where she often played to pay for flute lessons. She also practiced her craft on the streets of Chicago’s South Side. Gantt was educated at Chicago State University and earned her master’s degree at Northern Illinois University where she later taught. She had tenures at several colleges and universities in Illinois, and her last position was at the University of California, Irvine where she was promoted to professor in 2013.
But, a large part of her education was accomplished via her professional music career. While in Chicago, she co-hosted Avant-Gard jam sessions (her current music reflects that influence) and performed with drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake and saxophonist David Boykin, and others. Soon after she started her own band “Black Earth Ensemble” (BEE). This creative force is where she brought together all her influences while perfecting her uniqueness and maturation as a musician, teacher, and bandleader. Her stellar work with this group deserves some serious attention from anyone wishing to become acquainted with her sound, and to enjoy some multi-faceted amazing jazz music.
Gantt’s compositional skills not only extend to jazz and Avant-garde music (where she has won multiple awards and accolades), but she writes classical music for orchestra and chamber ensembles as well. Her music is fresh, daring, and fearless. She takes chances and she doesn’t allow herself to become confined by imaginary boundaries. She hopes to convey this courageous approach to her future students. We can only imagine the stars who will graduate under her inspirational influence. Hail Pitt!
This article was first published in Soul Pitt Quarterly Print Magazine (Summer 2019). Copyright Soul Pitt Media. All Rights Reserved.
