Jennifer Mitchell

Jennifer Mitchell is a former strings teacher, long-time member of KCCO,
and outreach program rockstar!

A love that began in kindergarten…

My love for the violin began in Kindergarten after hearing a 1st grader perform “Twinkle, Twinkle”.  We lived in Clay Center, Ks at the time, and were lucky to find a wonderful Suzuki teacher right away.

When my family moved to Kansas City in 1969, I began taking lessons from Tiberius Klausner and became a member of the KC Youth Symphony, eventually becoming the Concert Mistress.

In 1975, the Kansas City Civic Orchestra gave me a full scholarship to attend the UMKC Conservatory and I have been a member of KCCO ever since, minus a couple years when my kids were born.

Upon graduation from UMKC, I became an elementary strings teacher in Shawnee Mission East Area for 36 years.  Following my retirement, I helped create the KCCO Outreach program.  It has been an AMAZING experience as part of the elementary Outreach team playing for over 13,00 students on both sides of the state line.  I also enjoy playing 50-minute programs each month for seniors at six different assisted and memory centers who are no longer able to attend live performances. 

Then came COVID 19.

While I REALLY missed playing for elementary students this year, I was able to move my outreach program OUTSIDE and continue playing for seniors during spring, summer and fall.  Being part of KCCO’s “Civic in the City” was another amazing opportunity to perform in front of live audiences who were as excited to hear live music as I was to share it with them.

Currently I continue to perform for seniors via Facebook Messenger and am looking forward to more opportunities to play this spring as the weather warms up.