Josephine (“Josey”) Mintel, Foreign Affairs Specialist, Musician and Archivist
Josey Mintel assisted in recording several concerts in The Mintel Archive. She also contributed to the archiving effort and this website presentation, including the music samples.
Josey is now a resident of Washington, D.C., working as a Foreign Affairs Specialist in the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, where she is the Country Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Formerly living in Sarajevo, Josey was employed there in the Cabinet of the High Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Principal Deputy High Representative staff member. She also coordinated The Transatlantic Writers’ Group, the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program, to promote young writers and thinkers on transatlantic issues. The United States National Security Education Program awarded Josey a Boren Fellowship in 2021. As a part of this award, she traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to improve her language skills and continue her academic research related to the Western Balkans, particularly the divided education system. Josey graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago, obtaining a master’s degree from the Committee on International Relations in June 2022
While obtaining her first master’s degree in neuroscience science from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany, Josey became interested in transatlantic policy and international relations. In May 2018, she joined the United States Peace Corps in Kosovo. She lived with a host family for two years in the rural Serbian enclave village of Lapje selo in the Gračanica Municipality, teaching English in a public school and violin performance at Muzička škola “Stevan Mokranjac.” Here is a link to the concert featuring Josey and her violin students in the recital on December 27, 2019, at Muzička škola. This violin program was featured on several local TV programs—link: RTV KIM video.
As a violinist, Josey participated in several musical ensembles, including the Northwestern Medical Orchestra, Johns Hopkins University Chamber Orchestra, Midwest Young Artists (MYA) Symphony Orchestra, Akademische Orchestervereinigung Göttingen, and I’Solisti. She held a leadership position as a MYA Orchestra Governing Committee member. Josey has taught students to play the violin at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, Lockerman Bundy Public School in Baltimore, Maryland, and Muzička škola “Stevan Mokranjac.”
Muzička škola December 27, 2019
Josey began attending rehearsals and concerts her father recorded in places like Jackson, Wyoming, Chicago, Illinois, and Mystic, Connecticut, early in her life. She started playing the violin at age 4. Piano lessons commenced in the 5th grade; trumpet and guitar were later added. Midwest Young Artists provided her musical training from 2005 to 2009. As a part of MYA, she performed with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, in a side-by-side performance at Chicago’s Symphony Hall. She was part of the elite touring group of MYA musicians known as I’Solisti. Josey played in the MYA Orchestra during a tour of China and South Korea.
A semester abroad in Austria in 2010 studying music and violin performance at the Vienna Conservatory of Music was part of her work in earning a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University; she graduated with honors in 2013 with a major in neuroscience and a minor in music from The Peabody Institute.
Madagascar – Avenue of the Baobabs Sept. 2015