Steven M. Miller's creative work intersects with a number of disciplines and encompasses composition for acoustic & electronic media; music for dance, theater, and film/video; sound and collaborative intermedia installations; and interdisciplinary performance. As a performer and improvisor Miller employs acoustic and electronic resources, including hand percussion from the Middle East and North Africa, Javanese and American Gamelan, drumset, 'found' sounds/instruments, analog & digital electronics, computers, and winds. In particular, he has been performing live electronic music since 1985, and was among the early adopters of the computer music programming language 'HMSL' in 1987, creating works for live performer and computer/electronics. His work since the 1990's has been in both live/interactive and studio-based formats utilizing Max/MSP and Csound, as well as works for gamelan, improvisors, and hybrid acoustic/electronic ensembles.
Miller has performed in a variety of solo and ensemble contexts throughout the US. Radio broadcasts of his music have occurred in North & South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Current and/or recent music activity includes performances with: Gamelan Son of Lion, a contemporary composer's cooperative ensemble; Gamelan Kusuma Laras, a traditional Javanese ensemble based at the NYC Indonesian Consulate; Nacha Mendez, songwriter & singer of contemporary Latin pop & 'classics'; Erenler, a 6-piece Turkish/Balkan folk music ensemble; Gamelan Encantada, an Albuquerque-based ensemble specializing in traditional and new music for gamelan; The CSF Gamelan a student & community ensemble, directed by Miller, which performs traditional music of Central & West Java; and numerous solo, duet and ensemble performances of live electro-acoustic and improvised music.
Miller has composed and/or performed music for dance in collaboration with dancer-choreographers Nora Daniel, Bill Evans, Vicki Leigh Tolleson, Marina Baden, and others. His work in music for film/video includes an 18-year collaborative relationship with film-maker Michael J. Saul, and he has produced collaborative audio-visual installations with Michael J. Saul and Jennifer Schlesinger. He has composed and/or performed music for theater productions at the College of Santa Fe, Evergreen State College, and numerous productions at the Issaquah Little Theater.
His work as a composer, performer, audio engineer and/or producer has appeared on Pogus Productions, New Tone Records, New Albion Records, Frog Peak Music, Gang of Seven, Matador Records, Sound Sound Records, Lyrichord Records, Rastascan Records, Leonardo Music Journal CD Series, Zerx Records, Interra Records, and numerous independent CD & cassette releases. His gamelan compositions are distributed by the American Gamelan Institute.
Miller's debut solo CD Subterranea was released in June 1997 on NewTone Records (Italy). Other releases include Glass Piece, and At The Outpost (both released independently) and several compilations on the Zerx label. He also contributed two pieces to the DIY Canons project and three pieces to the Frog Peak Collaborations Project. You can get more info on these discs and/or order them from the Electronic Music Foundation's CDeMUSIC. Upcoming releases include a solo CD on Electroshock.
Miller has worked in various capacities (performer, engineer, producer, etc.) with a number of leading artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Amjad Ali Khan, Annea Lockwood, David Dunn, Steve Peters, Joan La Barbara, Pauline Oliveros, David Behrman, Steina Vasulka, David Hykes, Malcolm Goldstein, Jai Uttal, Nacha Mendez, J. A. Deane, Peter Gordon, Janice Giteck, Gamelan Pacifica, The Seattle City Gamelan, Gamelan Encantada, Gamelan Son of Lion, FLUX Quartet, Gamelan Kusuma Laras, The Lewis & Clark Gamelan, Splatter Trio, Rajeev Taranath, Ustad Sabri Khan, Sharmistha Sen, I Wayan Sadra, Sumita Chakravorty, Bill Frisell, Wayne Horwitz, Will Ackerman, William Brown, Brent Michael Davids, Barry Morrow, Tom Bodett, Nora Dunn, and many others.
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Software • Discography • Compositions • Intermedia • Performances • Reviews