Richard Miller (singer)
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Richard Miller (born 1926) is a professor emeritus of singing at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the author of numerous books on singing technique and vocal pedagogy. He sang recitals, orotorios, and numerous roles as a lyric tenor with major opera companies in Europe and America, under such great conductors as Slatkin, Boulez, Szell, Knappersbusch, Ackermann, Ludwig, Lane, and Sebastian. He is considered one of the most influential vocal pedagogues in the world, and has been awarded many prizes. He is a Chevalier/Officier, L'ordre des arts et des lettres (French Ministry of Culture decoration of honor); Doctor of Humane Letters; Otolaryngology Adjunct Staff, Cleveland Clinic Foundation; a member of Collegium Medicorum Theatri; American Academy of Teachers of Singing; and was the original Founder and Director of the ground breaking Vocal Arts Center (OBSVAC) at Oberlin Conservatory, and previously Wheeler Professor of Performance at Oberlin Conservatory. He was/is a frequent adjudicator at national and international competitions, and is responsible for skyrocketing more than one singer to fame.
Miller taught 28 years at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria, presented lectures and classes at the Paris Conservatoire Superieure, at the Marseilles National Opera School, and at Centre Polyphonique. In May, 1990, he was decorated Chevalier/Officier into the French Order of Arts and Letters at the hand of Madame Regine Crespin "in recognition of contributions to the art of vocalism in France and throughout the world." In 2006 Miller received the Voice Education Research Awareness Award from The Voice Foundation for his contribution to the field of voice communication. He was chief presenter at several international voice congresses. In November 2005, he retired from his professorship at the Oberlin Conservatory, where he had taught for more than forty years. His love for teaching and singing is extremely apparent in both his works as a writer and in his interactions with his students. Many of his students have gone on to have major singing careers at La Scala, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and virtually every great house in the world. Although retired, he continues to teach some masterclasses. Internationally renowned for these masterclasses, he taught in Austria, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and 38 US states. He was known for his voice research in Belgium, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Italy, Hungary, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland.
He has written articles for over 120 professional journals. He has also edited several musical anthologies and collections. His texts include National Schools of Singing aka "English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing" (Scarecrow, 1977, reissued 1997), The Structure of Singing (Schirmer Books/Macmillan, 1986), Training Tenor Voices (Schirmer Books/Macmillan, 1993), On the Art of Singing (Oxford University Press, 1996), Singing Schumann: An Interpretive Guide for Performers (Oxford University Press, 1999), Training Soprano Voices (Oxford University Press, 2004), Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers (Oxford University Press, 2004), Securing Baritone, Bass-Baritone, and Bass Voices (Oxford University Press, 2008). "Singing in Western Civilization" is currently at press.
He holds a B. Mus., M. Mus. (University of Michigan), Artist Diploma (L'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome) and the L.H.D. (Doctor of Humanities), Gustavus Adolphus College, and was a 1952 Fulbright Scholar. A true Renaissance Man, he has a deep love for literature, philosophy, and gardening, and is an avid oil painter and pianist. He lives with his brilliant wife, who is an editor of his works.
