Prof. Patricia Miller

Patricia Miller is an Internationally acclaimed operatic and concert mezzo-soprano.  She is also a highly respected voice teacher and Music Educator. A University Professor, artist-teacher and master class clinician, her talent and commitment to opera education has taken her all over the world. She is Director of Vocal Studies at George Mason University, and serves on the Opera Panel of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Miss Miller has appeared in leading operatic roles with the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Dallas, Detroit, Miami, Denver, Orange County (CA), Los Angeles and New York City opera companies. She made her European debut with the Basel Stadttheater (State Theater) Opera, in Basel, Switzerland, as Isabella in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, and has since performed in opera and concert in Paris, Geneva, Lyon, Montpellier, Lisbon, Munich, Bonn, Frankfort, Melbourne, Bogota, Calgary, Berlin, Moscow, Kiev, Verona and Tokyo. She has sung the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with opera companies throughout Europe, Australia, North and South America; and she was chosen by the great British director, Peter Brook to sing the title role in his highly acclaimed production of La Tragedie de Carmen in Munich, Milan, Pompeii, Verona and Tokyo.

Of her highlights from Miss Miller’s stellar singing career include concert performances of Beethovan’s Missa Solemnis and Dvorak’s Requiem with the American Symphony at Carnegie Hall, Berlioz’ L’Enfant du Christ with the Little Symphony Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall / Lincoln Center, the Verdi Requiem with the Haifa Symphony Orchestra in Israel, televised and concert performances of Porgy and Bess at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria and at the Deutsche Oper of Berlin; and a world tour of Porgy and Bess with acclaimed conductor Lorin Maazel and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Locally, in Washington, D. C., Miss Miller has appeared in concert at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, in opening concerts for the Inaugural year of the New Strathmore Music Center with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, and in concerts, lecture-performances and solo recitals at the Austrian Embassy, the French Embassy, the National Cathedral, the National Building Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art Guest Artist Series, the Smithsonian, Constitution Hall, and the Library of Congress.

Miller’s vocal artistry is described as “captivating” (San Francisco Chronicle), “passionate and sensuous” (Il Giornale di Napoli/Italy), “powerful and moving” (Le Monde/Paris), and “rich and beautiful” (Opera/London). In a recent performance at Lisner Auditorium, the Washington Post described Miss Miller’s voice as “creamy, expressive and ideal” for the Brahms Rhapsody; from a Washington, D. C. recital performance, critic Joseph McClellan (Washington Post) wrote “Miller’s voice is deep, rich in tonal beauty and power, and comfortable in a wide range of styles” and from an April 2003 performance of the Verdi Requiem, Joe Banno (Washington, Post) wrote “Patricia Miller brought a real sense of Verdian drama to the score’s big moments with her powerhouse mezzo.”

Miss Miller has recorded the role of Dejanira in Cavalli’s opera Ercole Amante (The Loves of Hercules) with the English Bach Festival Orchestra, Michel Corboz conducting, for Erato Records. Her performance featuring the music of Mikalojus Ciurlionis at the Library of Congress, co-sponsored by the Fulbright Association and the Lithuanian Embassy met with high praise and she was presented a special honor by then Lithuanian Ambassador, H. E. Stasys Sakalauskas. Her juried paper and lecture-recital titled “Black Divas – the Legend Lives on in Spirit and Song” was selected and presented as part of the Harvard University’s African American Studies International Conference at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.

A highly respected artist-teacher and voice master class clinician, Miss Miller has served as guest Professor of Voice at the Oberlin Conservatory, recitalist and master class clinician at the Tchaikovsky National Conservatory in Kiev, Ukraine, master class clinician at the Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia; opera master class clinician at Jungsei, Dankook and Daejin universities in Seoul, Korea, and this summer, a member of the voice faculty at the Amalfi Coast, Italy, Music Festival, and Artistic Director, voice teacher and master class clinician of the International Music Festival and Institute for Singers at Ewha Womens University in Seoul, Korea.

In February, 2004, at Old Town Hall in Fairfax, Virginia, Miss Miller was honored by the Fairfax Virginia Commission on the Arts and given an Honorary Alumnae Artist Award from the Washington, D. C. Alumnae Chapter of the Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity, Inc. In March, 2004, she received the Sojourner Truth Award from George Mason University and the African American Studies and GMU Women’s Center for her commitment to the Musical Arts and Arts Education. In 2008, Miss Miller was named Distinguished University Professor of Music by the Board of Visitors at George Mason University.

During her career, Miss Miller has received numerous grants and awards, including First Place in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera Competition and MET National Finalist, the Sullivan Foundation (New York City), the Metropolitan Opera Guild Grant, First Place in the Opera Index Competition (New York City), the Fulbright-Hayes International Grant (Fulbright Scholar Award for International Study), the George London/National Opera Institute Career Grant (Kennedy Center), the American Embassy Cultural Grant-Kiev, Ukraine, the Urban League Shining Star Award, the George Mason University Faculty Research Grant (for advanced study in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria), and in 2004 the Sigma Alpha Iota Alumni Artist Award, and the Sojourner Truth Award (George Mason University).

Miss Miller is in high demand as a competition adjudicator- The International Voice Competition (National Association of Arts & Letters, Washington, D. C.), the National Symphony Young Soloist’s Competition (Kennedy Center), the Jack Kent Cooke undergraduate and Graduate Fellowship Awards, the NAACP National Voice Competition, Peabody Conservatory Voice Competition, the Annapolis Opera Competition, the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and NAATSA regional and state competitions, among many others.

Miss Miller has served on the Board of Directors of the National Capitol Area Fulbright Association, the Board of the Virginia State National Association of Teachers of Singing, and sh e presently serves on the Board of the Amadeus Concert Series, Inc. in Great Falls, Virginia, and on the Advisory Board of the Bethesda Music Festival, Bethesda, Md.

Miss Miller’s distinguished biography is listed in Who’s Who in America (2003-2010), Who’s Who in American Education (2005-2009), Who’s Who Among American Women (2008-09) and Who’s Who in the World (2008-2010).

Miss Miller is a graduate of Boston University, New England Conservatory, and, as a Fulbright Scholar, received an Artist Diploma from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy. She attributes her success to music education early on in her life and to outstanding mentor-teachers throughout her life, including her parents – Robert and Bernice Miller (of Arlington, Virginia), Maestro Luigi Ricci (Rome, Italy), Gladys Miller Zachareff (New England Conservatory), Eleanor Steber (New England Conservatory/New York City), Peter Brook (Paris, France), Shirlee Emmons (New York City), Richard Miller (Salzburg, Austria) and Mattiwilda Dobbs (Arlington, Virginia).

Miss Miller is Distinguished University Professor of Music and Artist-in-Residence at George Mason University where in addition to the aforementioned Director of Vocal Studies, she is also Artistic Director of the Mason Opera Theater. She has been a Reader’s Digest sponsored Artist-in-Residence at Lafayette College, and Professor of Voice at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri and Professor of Voice at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio.

Distinguished University Professor, Artist-in-Residence 
Professor of Music

• Applied Voice
• Producer, Opera
• Performance Seminar / Vocal Literature

Education: 

• BM, Boston University
• MM, New England Conservatory
• Artist Diploma Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Rome)