Remembering Danlee Mitchell

Danlee at Flower Mountain, Bali | Photo courtesy of Anita Mitchell

The Center for World Music mourns the loss of Professor Danlee Mitchell (October 5, 1936–July 31, 2024), a cherished board member who played a pivotal role in shaping the organization since the early 1990s.

A pillar of the San Diego music community, Danlee was renowned for his work directing and performing with the Harry Partch Ensemble, as professor of percussion in the School of Music and Dance at San Diego State University (1964-2001), and for his tireless advocacy for world music.

As a passionate music archivist, Danlee meticulously captured performances across genres through audio and video recordings, preserving countless artistic moments for future generations.

We are profoundly grateful for Danlee’s decades of dedicated, steadfast contribution to our mission. His legacy will continue to inspire us, and we will hold his memory close in our hearts.

Danlee Mitchell playing Partch instruments (1987) | Photo: Randy Hoffman

Danlee’s life touched so many of us and he will be greatly missed.

The Center for World Music proudly dedicates its 2025 Concert Series to the memory of Danlee Mitchell.

To learn more about Professor Mitchell, read on our blog the posts “Congratulations to Danlee Mitchell on His 80th Birthday” and “A Personal Tribute to Danlee Mitchell,” both by Dr. Lewis Peterman, Danlee’s SDSU colleague, who is past president and, like Danlee, board member emeritus of the CWM.

There is also a fine tribute “Danlee Mitchell (1936 – 2024): the ‘sine qua non’” by Jon Szanto, executor of the Harry Partch Estate.

Last but certainly not least, a heartfelt thank you to George Varga at the San Diego Union-Tribune for his feature-length obit for our esteemed colleague, “Danlee Mitchell, a nationally acclaimed San Diego music treasure, is dead at 87.”