Heidi Johanna MillerFaculty

Originally from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller joined the faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College in 2014, where she conducts the Gustavus Wind Symphony and teaches courses in music education.  Previously she served as Artist-in-Residence in Winds and Director of the Williams College Wind Ensemble in Williamstown, MA.  Her varied career also includes appointments with the University of Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley (MA) Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Ithaca College (NY), and Spring Lake Park High School (MN). Miller has also performed extensively with vocal ensembles in Minnesota and New England, and is fascinated by the intersectionality of vocal and instrumental music of all types, as well as how they interact with visual art and dance.

Miller has led numerous public school music festivals, instrumental and vocal ensembles, chamber ensembles, and has performed as a soprano specializing in contemporary and early music. Still deeply connected to New England, Miller guest conducted the Rhode Island Wind Ensemble in the spring of 2019, and adjudicates the MICCA festival in the Boston area yearly. Regularly appearing internationally, Miller has guest conducted the Gustavus Wind Orchestra in Sweden, Norway, Spain and France, and in 2023 she will guest conduct at the Bangkok International Band Festival at the International School in Bangkok, Thailand.

Recent and future engagements include conducting the 2023 Ordway Honors Festival, joining the conducting faculty of the International Music Camp in the summer of 2022, conducting and presenting at the 2022, 2019, and 2018 Minnesota Music Educators Midwinter Clinics, serving as a guest artist and clinician at the 2018 New England Band Directors Institute, and serving as guest conductor and clinician at high school festivals from California to New England. She also served as co-conductor of the Encore Wind Ensemble for the 2014-2015 season.  As a vocalist, Miller has performed with the Minnesota Chorale, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Anniversary Chorale, the Sapphire Chamber Consort, the Cornell University Chorale, the New England-based chamber choir Novi Cantori, and the Flux Ensemble.

An advocate for new music, Miller has guided premiere performances and commissioned works by many composers including Katherine Bergman, Stephen Hartke, James Patrick Miller, Keir Neuringer, Carl Schroeder, Dawn Lenore Sonntag, and James Syler, and is a member of the 2020 Minnesota Consortium for Black American Composers . Her ensembles’ performances have been noted by Dana Wilson and Pulitzer Prize winning composers Karel Husa and Steven Stucky.  Miller earned the D.M.A. in conducting from the University of Minnesota, the M.M. in conducting from Ithaca College, and the B.M. in music education and performance from the University of Minnesota. Her mentors in conducting include Craig Kirchhoff, Stephen Peterson, and Kathy Romey. Currently she resides in Saint Peter, MN with her husband, James, daughters Linnea and Ingrid, and their two cats, Tisbury and Strider. Outside of music her interests include reading, cooking and baking, ballet, and running.

Courses Taught