Rancho Bernardo music teacher Jack Mitchell has taught countless musicians, from Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller to thousands of local youths from grade school through college. His own schooling includes the University of New Hampshire, where he led the school jazz band, and Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree in education.
In 1985, he and his wife Harriet moved to Rancho Bernardo in 1985. A trumpet player who also played guitar and several other instruments, Mitchell helped develop the Advanced Placement Program for U.S. high schools, as well as heading up Rancho Bernardo’s Symphony on the Green each summer for over 30 years.
Mitchell passed away on March 14, 2012, of myelodysplasia and complications from a 2011 fall. He was 93.