About the Artist
Mary Mixter is a composer, trombonist, and music teacher currently based in the Denver metro area. A Doctor of Musical Arts graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Mixter was selected during her studies as one of the winners of the 2019 Concerto Showcase for her orchestral work Timpanogos and was awarded the Mullen Sacred Music Prize in 2021 for Three Churches in Santa Fe. In previous years, she participated as a composition fellow at the nief norf Summer Festival and at New Music on the Point; more recently, she participated twice in artist residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. As a trombonist, Mixter performed with the International Women’s Trombone Choir at the 2024 International Trombone Festival and frequently plays as a substitute with Rocky Mountain Brassworks. She received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Colorado-Boulder and her Master of Arts from the University of North Texas. She is a member of ASCAP.
Recent Works and Performances
Box Five (2023) for trombone and piano
Commissioned by Michelle Flowers and performed at the International Trombone Festival on July 15, 2023 by Michelle Flowers and Gerta Wiemer. Recorded by Michelle Flowers and Xiaoyan Wan in 2025.
Location, Location, Location (2023) for brass duo
Version for horn and trombone premiered at the International Trombone Festival on July 14, 2023, by Wendy Koller and Michelle Flowers.
Theme and Variations on Colorado Women (2022) for concert band
Commissioned by the Montrose (CO) Community Band and the Montrose Woman's Club. Premiered on September 18, 2022 at the Montrose Pavilion (Montrose, CO).
Version for brass band premiered by the Rocky Mountain Brassworks on September 27, 2025 at Jefferson Academy (Broomfield, CO).
River of Grass (2021) for flute and electronics
Performed by Emma Hospelhorn with the Chicago Composers' Consortium in December 2021.
Poles of Inaccessibility (2021) for trombone quartet
Composed for the Coal Hill Quartet.
Thunder at High Dune (2021) for symphony orchestra
The second movement of doctoral dissertation Southwest Impressions.
Three Churches in Santa Fe (2020) for symphony orchestra
The third movement of doctoral dissertation Southwest Impressions. Winner of the 2021 Mullen Sacred Music Prize.
Timpanogos (2019) for symphony orchestra
The first movement of doctoral dissertation Southwest Impressions. Winner of the 2019 Concerto Showcase Call for Scores at the Mead Witter School of Music.
Sonata for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord (2019) for chamber ensemble
Premiered as a virtual ensemble performance in December 2020.
The Mississippi from Fire Point (2018) for flute, piano and percussion
Composed and performed as part of Residency #170 at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
Elegy and Castigation (2018) for trombone and piano
Elegy performed by Mary Mixter and Eric Tran at the opening concert of the Hamel Music Center at the University of Wisconsin.
The entirety of Elegy and Castigation premiered by Lucas Rego Borges, trombone, and Emely Phelps, piano, at Ohio University on September 28, 2023.
Capulin (2018) for flute, mandolin and guitar
Workshopped by the Cygnus Ensemble in March 2018.
Fata Morgana (2017) for unaccompanied tuba
Composed for Logan Jungman for performance at the UMKC Academy Composition Workshop, June 2017.
Toutatis (2016) for unaccompanied trombone
Premiered by Mary Mixter in November 2016. Performed by Dr. Keith Jackson at the West Fork New Music Festival (Fairmont, WV) in September 2018.