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Faculty: RJ Miller
An internationally touted master of orchestration, R.J. Miller has enjoyed a richly diverse musical career. He has composed, orchestrated, conducted, and produced contemporary classical recordings with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the St. Petersburg (Russia) Philharmonic Orchestra; produced critically acclaimed CDs by Placido Domingo, José Carreras, Russian Violin Virtuoso Grigori Sedukh, and the St. Petersburg Hutchins Violin Octet; served as Executive Producer and Mastering Producer on the Grammy® Nominated CD "How Great Thou Art" by Country Music Superstar, Willie Nelson; arranged, orchestrated & performed on multiple Jazz and New Age CDs that have reached the Billboard Magazine "Top 20"; composed, orchestrated and produced film scores for the digital re-release of the original "The Last of the Mohicans", "The Birth of a Nation" (VSDA "Viva Gold Award" Nominee), "The Lost World" (ASIGA "Annie Award" Nominee), "Felix the Cat", and "Winsor McCay: Animation Legend" (ASIGA "Annie Award" Winner); orchestrated and conducted documentary, movie and sports soundtracks for television which have aired on The Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, TCM, NBC, ABC, AMC, National Geographic Explorer, ESPN, and the international broadcasts of the 1999 World Cup Championship and the 2002 Winter Olympics; orchestrated four Broadway plays, including "Burn This" (starring John Malkovich). A portion of his score to the digital reissue of the original "The Lost World" appears in the documentary "The Making of Jurassic Park" (hosted by James Earl Jones and distributed worldwide by MCA/Universal. Pictures). He is the author of Clock Master: A Comprehensive Manual for Synchronizing Musical Compositions to Film and Video (an 811 page technical reference manual for composers/arrangers), The Notation Translation Manual (a technical reference manual for recording engineers that converts musical notation into milliseconds for use with digital delays and reverbs), Recording in the Academic Environment (a production guide for educators), Where Do I Go From Here? (a brief guide for soliciting recording/publishing deals), Basic Music Technology (an on-line course manual for The Metropolitan State College of Denver - covering music software technologies, MIDI, graphics, and web site design), Music Technology for Music Educators (an on-line course manual for music education majors at The Metropolitan State College of Denver - covering LiveText online authoring technology, music software technologies, data base/spreadsheet applications, classroom presentation technologies, MIDI, graphics, and educationally oriented web site design), Scoring and Arranging (an on-line course manual for Instrumental & Choral Scoring and Arranging students at The Metropolitan State College of Denver), and currently has two additional books, The Art and Practical Application of Orchestration and A Survey of Classical Music in pre-production. He is an active voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammys®), a member of ASCAP, a member of the Society of Composers, Inc., and Founder and President of Appassionata Music Publishing. At The Metropolitan State College of Denver, Professor Miller's instructional responsibilities include Instrumental and Choral Scoring and Arranging, Music Technology for Music Educators, Basic Music Technology, Fundamentals of Music Theory, and Introduction to Music, and he serves as the Department Coordinator of Music Technology. In selected classes/seminars, he also lectures on scoring for film & television, copyrights, fair usage, licensing agencies, royalties, recording & publishing, industry associations, and music entrepreneurship. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences has selected him to serve on several judging committees for the Grammy Awards (a confidentiality agreement with NARAS precludes the listing specific categories). RJ's former positions include Founder and President of Fahrenheit Records and Celsius Records, Executive Vice President of Finer Arts Records and F2 Entertainment, General Manager and Executive Producer of Forté Records, Music Director/Composer on the television series "The Master's Peace Theater" (KWHD-TV), Interim President of the New Violin Family Association, and head copyist for the jazz publishing company, Outrageous Mother, Inc. With almost 40 years of professional experience, his credits (as composer, orchestrator, arranger, conductor, performer, musicologist, producer and/or executive producer) appear on over 300 CDs/albums, laserdiscs, DVDs, CDVs, videos, film and television productions. In addition to his technical reference manuals, course manuals, and text books, his published works include eight volumes of works for piano, four symphonic suites, a symphonic poem and 28 single movement works for symphony orchestra, over 100 selections for instruments of the New Violin Family, and well over 100 works for string quartets, wind ensemble/symphonic band, flute orchestra, pops orchestra, brass ensembles, woodwind ensembles, jazz ensembles, percussion ensembles, synthesizer ensembles, and other small ensembles of various genres and instrumentation.
Other useless trivia:
Exploiting an extensive background in math and physics, R.J. spent two years as a Quality Control Analyst for a NASA sub-contractor (analyzing elements of the guidance systems for the C4 anti-ballistic missile system and the Space Shuttle solid-fuel boosters) while attending graduate school. >>Back To Faculty List
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