Darleen Mitchell has written over 120 compositions for various instrumental and vocal combinations, from solo flute to full orchestra and chorus. Her compositions have been performed throughout the United States and in Europe, including at regional and national College Music Society Conferences and the New Music Festival of the American Composers Alliance in New York. Her works are published by American Composers Editions in New York.

Dr. Mitchell has been the recipient of many awards, including the Distinguished Artist Award from the Nebraska Arts Council in 2005 and 2011, and the National League of American Pen Women Composition Competition. Several works have won prizes and contests, including Watery Moon for alto/bass flute and vibraphone, Alto Flute Composition Competition, Royal College of Music, London, England; Images for violin and guitar, Duo 46 Composition Competition, Hermoupolis, Greece; O Felix Anima, for Soprano, Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Chicago Ensemble Discover America III Composition Competition. Her commissions include the Nebraska Music Teachers Association as Composer of the Year (2006) and Third Chair Chamber Players.

She received a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Chicago where her teachers included Ralph Shapey and Pulitzer Prize winner Shulamit Ran. Dr. Mitchell founded and performed with the improvisational ensemble The Marcel Duchamp Memorial Players in the Chicago area for over 10 years. She is currently a Professor of Music at the University of Nebraska at Kearney where she coordinates the music theory and composition programs, directs the New Music Ensemble and the annual New Music Festival.