Nicola Miller
Composer, saxophonist (doubling on flute), educator
Contact – nicolaleithmiller@gmail.com
French Bio
Nicola Miller est une saxophoniste et compositrice expérimentale basée sur la Rive-Sud de la Nouvelle-Écosse. Sa musique étrange et tendre s'étend vers l'avant-garde tout en gardant un pied dans le lyrique et le mystérieux. Elle a étudié avec le saxophoniste/compositeur Frank Gratkowski (un pilier de la scène musicale improvisée européenne), le compositeur expérimental new-yorkais Kirk Nurock et le compositeur et batteur nominé aux Grammy Awards John Hollenbeck. Elle est titulaire d'un Maitre en Composition du Jazz Institüt Berlin de l'UdK et s'est produite dans les communautés de musique improvisée et de jazz à Berlin.
Bio
Nicola Miller is an experimental saxophone player and composer based on the South Shore of Nova Scotia. Her strange tender playing stretches toward the avant-garde while maintaining a foot in the lyrical and the mysterious. She has studied with saxophonist/composer Frank Gratkowski (a mainstay of the European improvised music scene) New York based experimental composer Kirk Nurock and Grammy Nominated composer and drummer John Hollenbeck. She holds a Master's Degree in Composition from UdK's Jazz Institüt Berlin and has performed in the Berlin improvised music and jazz communities.
List of Works
For purchase information, please contact the composer directly.
Chamber Music/Improvisational
Buffleheads (2023) — Any instrumentation, preferably including wind or brass (min 4 ppl) (7 min.)
Winner of the 2023 Alkali Ensemble Call for Scores
Seagulls (2023) - Jazz ensemble, brass/winds + drums and bass (appx. 8 min.)
Featured on upcoming album ‘Living Things’
Night Crawlers (2022) - Jazz ensemble, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Trombone, Bass, Drums (appx. 10 min.)
Featured on upcoming album ‘Living Things’
Living Things (2022) - Jazz ensemble, Bass Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, Trombone, Bass, Drums (appx. 10 min.)
Featured on upcoming album ‘Living Things’
Large Ensemble
St. Kevin and The Blackbird Suite (2022) — Alto Saxophone/Flute, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone/Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Guitar, Vibraphone/Xylophone, Piano, Bass, Drums (appx. 50 min total)
Premiered in Berlin at the UdK’s Jazz Institüt, June 2022.
5 Pieces based on Seamus Heaney’s poem of the same title
I. Overture, II. And Then There Was, III. Moved To Pity, IV. Ouch That Hurts, V. Love’s Deep River
Simple Colours (2021) — Jazz Big Band (appx. 8 min.)
Premiered in Berlin at the UdK’s Jazz Institüt, May 2022.