Josephine (“Josey”) Mintel, Musician and Archivist
Josey Mintel assisted in recording several of the concerts contained 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 Sarajevo, where she is employed by the Office of the High Representative-Bosnia and Herzegovina; she is a member of the Cabinet of the Principal Deputy High Representative. She is also the coordinator for The Transatlantic Writers’ Group, the Wilson Center’s Global Europe Program initiative to promote young writers and thinkers focused on transatlantic issues. Josey graduated with Honors from the University of Chicago, obtaining a master’s degree from the Committee on International Relations in June 2022. The United States National Security Education Program awarded Josey a Boren Fellowship in 2021. As a part of this award, Josey 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. She became interested in transatlantic policy and international relations while obtaining her first master’s degree in neuroscience science from Georg-August-Universität Göttingen in Germany. In May of 2018, she joined the United States Peace Corps in Kosovo, where she lived with a host family for two years, teaching English and violin performance in the rural Serbian enclave village of Lapje selo in the Gračanica Municipality.
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 an 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” Gračanica Municipality in Kosovo; here is a link to the performance featuring Josey and her violin students in recital, December 27, 2019, at Muzička škola. The violin program at Muzička škola was featured on several local TV programs. Link: RTV KIM video.
Muzička škola December 27, 2019
Josey began going to rehearsals and concerts recorded by her father early in her life in places like Jackson, Wyoming, Chicago, Illinois, and Mystic, Connecticut. 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 China and South Korea tour.
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.