Mitchell, Danlee (1936-2024) | University of Illinois Archives

Danlee Mitchell (1936-2024) was an alumnus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the principal percussionist of Harry Partch's Gate 5 Ensemble. Mitchell was born in Tacoma, Washington. Both of his parents were musicians. Following his high school graduation, he briefly enrolled at the University of Puget Sound, transferring to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1956 in order to study percussion with Paul Price and Jack McKenzie. In his first year at Illinois, he joined the Harry Partch production of The Bewitched. After Partch moved to Chicago, accepting a position at Northwestern University in 1958, Mitchell followed him. He would later serve as Partch's graduate assistant when Partch was hired as a visiting artist. Mitchell earned his masters degree in percussion performance at the University of Illinois in 1962.

In 1964, Mitchell moved to Petaluma, California in order to perform Partch's music in an album called And on the Seventh Day Petals Fell in Petaluma. Soon after this, Mitchell accepted a position as professor of music at San Diego State University. Mitchell would continue to assist Partch throughout the 1960s and 70s, performing on the premiere of The Delusion of the Fury. Mitchell collaborated with Betty Freeman and Stephen Pouliot in the documentary The Dreamer that Remains. After Partch's death in 1974, Mitchell continued to serve on faculty at San Diego State University. His interest in non-Western music led to him encouraging ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown to relocate his Center for World Music to San Diego. After Mitchell retired in 1990, he served as the executor of Partch's estate. In this capacity, he brought Partch's Estate Archive to the University of Illinois. Mitchell also encouraged Robert E. Brown to donate his materials to the University of Illinois in the early 2000s. Mitchell died in 2024.