The Band Director's Lounge

#25: Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller – Gustavus Adolphus College, MN

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Hello and welcome back to The Band Director’s Lounge!

If you have been keeping up in real time with episode releases, you will know that there has been a bit of a lag time between the past few episodes due to the wrap up of the end of the school year. However, after listening to today’s guest I think that you will find that the delay has been worth the wait!

Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller’s Background

Originally from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller currently serves on the faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she conducts the Gustavus Wind Symphony and teaches courses in music education.

Her previous appointment was as artist-in-residence in Winds at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she conducted and coordinated the wind ensemble.  She has also taught classes and conducted ensembles at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Ithaca College, and the University of Minnesota. Her first teaching position was at Spring Lake Park High School, right here in Minnesota!  While working on her doctorate, she and her husband James co-founded the Minneapolis-St. Paul based Sapphire Chamber Consort, which gave several performances in Minnesota and Wisconsin. While in New England she served as the assistant conductor with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for one year, and continued to co-conduct the Amherst Community Band while on faculty at Williams College.

Heidi is passionate about the intersection between vocal an instrumental music of all types, as well as the interconnectedness of music and art with everything else in our daily lives.  As a performer, she remained active in many community and semi-professional ensembles through the years; as a trumpet player with the Metropolitan Symphony orchestra in the cities, and as a singer, with the Minnesota Chorale, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorale, the Cornell Chorale while in Ithaca, and Novi Cantori and the Flux Ensemble in New England.  She is currently searching for a place to sing, but has been studying ballet to feed her soul artistically.

Heidi is also active as a guest conductor and clinician, having worked with ensembles in Minnesota, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, California, and Scandinavia.  Some of her recent guest conducting includes concerts with the Rhode Island Wind Ensemble this past April, the Gustavus Wind Orchestra on their 2018 tour of Sweden and Norway as well as their performance at the Minnesota Music Educators convention, the 2018 Minnesota Intercollegiate Honor Band, the 2016-2017 Ordway High School Honor Band, and the 2015 California All-State band at Cal Poly.  She presented at the 2019 Minnesota Music Educators convention and the 2018 New England Band Director’s Institute, and has adjudicated numerous large group festivals in MN and New England. She also served as co-conductor of the Encore Wind Ensemble during the 2014-2015 season.

Heidi earned the DMA in conducting from the University of Minnesota, where she served as conductor of the North Star Band and worked as a full-time teaching assistant in the music department.  During this time the University awarded her a Graduate Research Fellowship for her dissertation research on the music of Steven Stucky. Her masters degree is from Ithaca College, and her bachelors – in performance and music education – also come from the University of Minnesota.

Heidi lives in St. Peter, MN with her husband, James, their daughters Linnea and Ingrid, and their two ridiculous cats, Tisbury (“Tizzy”) and Strider (aka “The Kitten.”)  Outside of music her interests include reading, cooking, baking with sourdough, ballet, golf, and running.

Heidi is a musician at the top of her craft and I think that you will find that she has some great thoughts to share on teaching band!

We are going to dive into our interview in just a second, but first I want to mention that this episode is brought to you by Audible.

  • Like podcasts, audiobooks are easy to listen to on your commute to and from work or playing in the background during work time in your classroom. I find myself over the course of a week or two completing an audiobook during workouts and drive time to and from school.
  • If you are interested in upping your “reading” game, check out this offer from The Band Director’s Lounge. You can get a free month of Audible and 2 free books when you use our referral link. Books that you acquire through audible are yours to keep even if you stop your subscription, so it is totally worth checking out!
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And now onto my conversation with Dr. Heidi Johanna Miller.

Episode Overview

  • Background (03:34)
  • Why Music Education and Teaching at GAC (11:50)
  • Favorite Topics in Large Ensembles (30:00)
  • What Should You Strive for in Instruction? (36:26) 
  • Personal Life & Teaching Band (40:30)
  • A Woman Band Director (46:37)
  • Score Study (63:40)
  • Conducting Tips (74:59)
  • Books that Inspired Your Musicianship (81:36)
  • Advice for Young Band Directors (87:12)

If you like what you heard today consider heading over to TheBandDirectorsLounge.com and use our affiliate links to purchase some of the books mentioned in the show, sign up for a free trial with Audible, or pick up a set of Eargasm Earplugs. Your purchases through these links help offset some of the costs of recording, producing, and hosting this show.

If you’re wondering what is in store from The Band Director’s Lounge for the rest of the summer, don’t worry there will be new episode releases. However do anticipate a more relaxed release schedule. I am not sure about you, but I have a long list of summer to-do’s both in and out of my classroom and now is the best time to do them. That and my wife and I are getting ready for our baby boy who is due in early July so things will be getting a little more busy on this end of the microphone.

Thanks again for tuning in, I will see you back here next time in The Band Director’s Lounge.

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