Vocal jazz expert performs and lectures during three-day residency

Jazz vocalist and music educator Connaitre Miller comes to MSUM to perform and speak about careers in both teaching and performance. She will also coach MSUM voice and choral students.
Miller performs Thursday, Nov. 13, with MSUM’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble on the Gaede Stage at 7:30 p.m. She performs again with the MSUM Faculty Jazz Ensemble at Studio 222 in downtown Fargo on Friday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m.

“It’s important for our students to routinely have the opportunity to meet and get to know those who represent true greatness in their art and Connaitre Miller is one of those people,” says Allen Carter, head of Jazz Studies at MSUM. “She is truly at the top in the world of vocal jazz performance and teaching. It is a special honor to have her with us.”

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, at noon in Fox Recital Hall, Miller will present a lecture on starting and maintaining a vocal jazz ensemble in schools. On Friday, Nov. 14, at 1:30 p.m. on the Gaede Stage, Miller will talk about a variety of subjects related to vocal jazz. Both lectures are free and open to the public. Music educators are encouraged to attend. The Gaede Stage and Fox Recital Hall are in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts on the MSUM campus. For more information about the performances and lectures, contact Dr. Allen Carter at (218) 477-4098, or email him at carter@mnstate.edu.

Miller is Associate Professor of Music and Coordinator of Vocal Jazz Studies at Howard University, where she directs the award-winning vocal jazz ensemble “Afro Blue,” teaches vocal jazz improvisation and vocal jazz arranging, and gives individual voice lessons. Before taking the position at Howard University, Miller taught for six years in Adelaide, South Australia, where she built a well-respected jazz voice program at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide.

An active performer, Miller has appeared at jazz festivals in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. She conducts lectures and workshops on jazz singing and jazz choir techniques throughout the U.S. and abroad. She served five times as a member of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Teacher Training Institute faculty, has conducted several All-State Jazz Choirs, and was a member of the IAJE resource team. Miller was featured in the June 2013 issue of DOWNBEAT magazine as the recipient of a DOWNBEAT Jazz Education Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to jazz education.

For tickets to the Thursday concert, go to www.mnstate.edu/tickets, or call the MSUM Box Office at (218) 477-2271 Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., or buy at the door before the performance. Tickets to the Studio 222 performance are available on site before the performance. Studio 222 is located at 222 Broadway in Fargo.