Robert Miller
Professor of Music (Education, Technology and Recording)
(860) 486-4783
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Robert Miller is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He holds the bachelor of arts in music degree from the College of William and Mary, the master of music degree from East Carolina University, and a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Illinois. Miller began his career in the Fairfax County, Virginia, Public Schools, where he was an intermediate school instrumental music teacher, and then band director and music theory instructor at McLean High School. During his tenure, the McLean Bands won numerous awards. The McLean jazz ensemble was nationally ranked, with many of its players going on to successful musical careers.
Miller has served on the faculties of the University of Maryland, University of Illinois, and the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. In 1979 he joined CEMREL, Inc., the national education research and development laboratory in St. Louis and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. During his time at CEMREL, Miller served as director of the Aesthetic Education Program and as principal investigator for the laboratory's research contract with the National Institute for Education. During this period he also served as consultant or researcher for many other organizations, including the American Research Institute for the Arts, the Brass Task Force of Drum Corps International, and the International Council of Fine Arts Deans. Miller has served as associate editor of the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education and as editor of ARIA's monograph series, Issues in the Arts in Postsecondary Education. He is the author of numerous articles and, with G. David Peters, he is the author of Music Teaching and Learning, published by Longman, Inc.
From 1983 to 1991 and from 1997 to 2001, Miller has served as coordinator of the Music Education Program at the University of Connecticut. He is the principal architect of UConn's widely known music education dual degree program. Miller has served as guest conductor and clinician in many states. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Miller served from 1989 to 1992 as the director of volunteer programs for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp program in Ashford, Connecticut, founded by Paul Newman for children with cancer and serious blood disorders. In 1991 he was a member of a delegation to Ukraine from the Children of Chernobyl Rescue Fund. The Children of Chernobyl has equipped, supplied, and maintains three pediatric hospitals in the area of the 1986 disaster. Miller's particular role was the establishment of hospital recreational centers for long-term pediatric cancer patients. In 1991, under the sponsorship of Senator Christopher Dodd, Miller organized and chaired a conference in the U.S. Capitol's Senate Hearing Room on the coordination of aid to Chernobyl victims in Ukraine and Belarus. This conference brought together leaders of American charities and religious organizations, as well as representatives of the Soviet and U.S. governments. For his work in this area Miller has received honors from the Union of Chernobyl Cleanup Workers and from the Supreme Soviet of the People's Republic of Ukraine.
Miller served as head of the Department of Music from 1999 to 2003. His current interest is in recording and he has produced and or engineered numerous CD's. Two of these have been honored by Downbeat Magazine as the year's outstanding collegiate recording in the symphonic category. His most recently completed project, a CD featuring Dan Vinson, euphonium, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine was recorded at the studios of the National Radio Orchestra in Kiev and will be distributed by Centaur records.