CCM Director of Choral Studies Joe Miller named Music Director of Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble
Joe Miller begins his tenure as VAE Music Director in the 2025-26 season
Vocal Arts Ensemble, the region’s premier professional vocal ensemble, has announced the appointment of Joe Miller as the fifth music director in the ensemble’s 45-year history, following a search that drew national and international interest. Miller will begin his tenure as Music Director in the 2025–26 season.
Miller serves as Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Studies at CCM, since 2020; as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir, since 2016; and as Director of Choral Activities at the Spoleto Festival USA, since 2006, where he will serve through the 2025 season of Spoleto Festival USA. Miller was also Director of Choral Activities at Westminster Choir College from 2006 to 2020.
Joe Miller. Photo/Provided.
Miller received his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting with a cognate in Voice from CCM in 1997 and received his Master of Music in Choral Conducting from CCM in 1992. While in graduate school, Miller sang with VAE from 1990 to 1993.
During his tenure at CCM, Miller has produced staged versions of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, a performance of Bach’s Magnificat that incorporated dance, and a multi-media presentation of Caroline Shaw’s To the Hands, among other innovative, multi-media concert experiences. In other capacities, Miller has presented fully memorized and staged versions of Joby Talbot’s highly demanding Path of Miracles, John Adams’ El Niño and Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anthracite Fields. Commercial recordings led by Miller have been praised for their “gorgeous singing” (American Record Guide) and hailed as “simply astounding” (Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical Notes).
“Miller’s vast and celebrated experience in the choral field as well as his deep connections here in Cincinnati make him the clear choice to lead VAE into its next chapter,” remarked Board Chairman John G. Earls. “Miller’s visionary approach to choral singing and choral concerts will ensure Cincinnati as a destination for both professional singers and audiences, and at the heart will be Cincinnati’s premier professional vocal ensemble. Through multi-disciplinary and immersive choral experiences, increased commissioning and commercial recording releases, and deep engagement with the musical and technical industries in Cincinnati, Miller’s vision for VAE is vibrant and exciting.”
“I am deeply honored to be named the next Music Director of VAE,” stated Joe Miller. “It is exciting to return to an ensemble that was formative in my career as a singer and conductor. This is an opportune time for VAE to strengthen its ties to the Cincinnati community while building its national presence. My vision is to curate sonic and visceral musical experiences that transform the lives of singers and listeners, to support the aspirations of singers, to foster creativity through collaborations with organizations that broaden the scope of choral performance and VAE, and to recognize the artistic potential for choral singing in Cincinnati.”
Joe Miller
Director and Professor of Choral Studies, CCM Choral Studies
Dieterle Vocal Arts Cntr
Recognized as a visionary conductor and creative artist, Joe Miller maintains an active performance schedule. Miller currently serves as Professor of Conducting and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). In addition to his work at CCM, Miller is artistic director of choral activities for the renowned Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina and since 2016 he has served as conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra Symphonic Choir.
Featured works of Miller’s 2024-25 season CCM include touring with the CCM Chamber Choir with Bach’s Singet dem Herrn, Mahler Symphony Nr. 2, Resurrection (Mark Gibson), Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem(Brett Scott), and a residency with renowned Latvian composer Eriks Esenvalds. Works with the Philadelphia Orchestra include Mahler, Symphony Nr. 3 (Yannick Nézet-Séguin), and Verdi Requiem (Ricardo Muti), and Handel, Messiah (Yannick Nézet-Séguin). Miller will close the 2024-25 season with new works and projects for the Spoleto Festival USA. Finally, last season marked the premier of MAESTRO a collaboration with Bradley Cooper and Netflix featuring the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir and the music of Leonard Bernstein. The music has been released on Deutsche Grammaphon and the movie received a Best Picture Nomination for the Academy Awards.
Miller made his conducting debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2021 conducting Handel’s Messiah. Recent collaborations with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra have included premier performances of Kevin Puts’ The Hours with Renée Flemming, Kelli O’Hara and Jennifer Johnson. The 2024 Philadelphia Symphonic Choir’s performances in Carnegie Hall and at Marion Anderson Hall celebrated Nathalie Stutzmann’s long collaboration as Principal Guest Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
After viewing a staged performance of Joby Talbot’s demanding Path of Miracles at the 2019 Spoleto Festival USA, D.C. Theatre Scene wrote, “Joe Miller is a fearless artist. His bold leadership and trust in these young singers enabled his choristers to forego the ‘stand and deliver,’ score-bound habits of their genre and ‘walk with him’ on this special journey. Not only did the singers need to memorize their parts, no mean feat, but follow his baton’s bid from any part of the auditorium and sing in any body position. Miller constantly challenged them in the process and inspired them to work confidently, well outside their comfort zone.”
Miller’s ensembles have performed throughout the world giving concert tours in Italy, Germany, Austria, France, England, China, and Spain, participating in the World Symposium on Choral Music in Barcelona. His choirs have toured extensively throughout the United States performing for the American Choral Director’s Association National and Regional Conferences, and including groundbreaking performances of Julia Wolfe’s Pulitzer Prize winning Anthracite Fields at the historic Roebling WireWorks as part of Westminster’s Transforming Space project.
Miller has been praised for his recordings. American Record Guide wrote about, Frank Martin: Mass for Double Choir, “This is gorgeous singing … with perfect blend, intonation, diction, ensemble and musicality.” The Heart’s Reflection: Music of Da
About VAE
The Vocal Arts Ensemble (VAE) is Greater Cincinnati’s premier professional vocal ensemble dedicated to presenting passionate and innovative performances of choral music that raise and nurture the public’s appreciation of the life-enriching qualities of the choral arts.
VAE fills a unique niche in the Cincinnati region as a professional chamber choir. Earning a reputation for artistic excellence, VAE presents rich, passionate performances of a broad variety of choral works with precision and unparalleled virtuosity. VAE has enjoyed artistic leadership by some of the nation’s leaders in choral conducting, including Elmer Thomas, Earl Rivers, Donald Nally and Craig Hella Johnson.
Music Directors of VAE
- 1979–1988 Elmer Thomas
- 1988–2008 Earl Rivers
- 2009–13 Donald Nally
- 2014–24 Craig Hella Johnson
- 2025 Joe Miller
Two opportunities remain to hear VAE this season. For more information, please visit vaecinci.com.
Featured image at the top: Joe Miller conducting during CCM’s “Life and Death: Bach Dances” performance at Christ Church Cathedral in October 2022. Photo by Mark Lyons.
Additional Contacts
Curt Whitacre | Director of Marketing/Communications | UC College-Conservatory of Music
whitaccp@ucmail.uc.edu | 513-556-2683
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