J.G. Miller

 

J. G. Miller, a Colorado native, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music with both academic Distinction and Performer's Certificate honors in both Music Performance and Music Education. He completed a Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Daniel Katzen, and then moved to the Los Angeles area to pursue freelance work and a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. His concentrations at USC include Performance, Education, Music Recording and Copyright Law, and Collegiate Pedagogy. 

He has performed with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Chamber Orchestra, Cornell Chamber Music Society, the Center for 21st Century Music, and numerous Los Angeles regional orchestras and recordings. He can be heard on Ensemble Musica Nova's Latin Grammy® Nominated recording of Barcelonazo by Jorge Liderman, released in 2008 by Bridge Records. He has also been a two-time finalist at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition with the AZG Winds and the Los Angeles Horn Quartet.

Miller has had solo opportunities performing at the 36th International Horn Symposium in Valencia, Spain in the European premiere of "Remembering 9/11" by Steven Morrell, as well as winners of the Eastman Concerto Competition performing Schumann’s Konzerstücke with the ensemble Quattro’Hornis. In 2008, he co-presented a lecture-performance on the closing concert of the 40th International Horn Symposium in Denver, Colorado. In 2009, Miller's performance of the Quoniam from Bach's B-Minor Mass garnered praise from conductor Helmuth Rilling, saying Miller is "an exceptional rising talent in the music world."

Miller has a fond interest in the acoustics and the design of horns, spending the previous three summers working as an apprentice for Lawson Horns. He attended the 42nd Annual Symposium in Brisbane, Australia, representing Lawson Horns.

Recognized by the city of Tucson and the University of Arizona for his unique approach to music education, Miller’s presentation “Homage a M. de Falla: Performers Connecting With Their Audiences” won him with the University President’s Award for Community Outreach in 2007. He was also awarded the 2011 Brandon P. Merhle Award for Distinguished Service at the University of Southern California. 

An advocate for unaccompanied horn and horn ensemble music, Miller's challenging arrangements and compositions have been performed both in the US and Europe, and have been met with praise by horn virtuosi Hermann Baumann, Radovan Vlatkovic, and the American Horn Quartet.  He enjoys additional work as a professional copyist, and serves as Vice President of Veritas Musica Publishing (ASCAP), founded by American composer Wayne Lu.

His influential horn teachers include Peter Kurau, James Thatcher, Daniel Katzen, Kendall Betts, and Erwin Chandler. Kendall Betts also served as his mentor while apprenticing at Lawson Horns.

Outside of music, Miller is fond of enjoying a game of paintball, swimming, racquetball, web design, and repairing cars.