Timothy L. Miller
Timothy Lee Miller (b. 1961) is a prolific American composer writing unique contemporary concert music for various chamber ensembles, orchestra, wind ensemble, and voice, as well as jazz music for small ensembles and big band. He has also written for several film and TV projects.
Born in Louisville KY but raised in Knoxville TN, Miller earned a Bachelor of Science degree in instrumental music education from the University of Tennessee where he studied composition with John Anthony Lennon. After a period of teaching high school band, he earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Miami where he studied media writing and production and jazz with James Progris and Ron Miller. He has written scores for several films while in Miami, and later after moving to Los Angeles. However, his primary focus is concert music. In addition to Lennon, Progris and Miller, his primary teachers have been Tamar Diesendruck, Jonathan Bailey Holland and Andy Jaffe. His current mentor is violinist/composer Roger Zahab.
Miller’s music is said to be programmatic in nature, perhaps due to his background in film music. However, he prefers to think of it as "descriptive," meaning that his music describes scenes or events in sound. He cites his main influences to be Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Mahler, Resphigi, and Copland, although he is an avid listener of all types of music and likes to incorporate jazz harmonies and elements into his music. He has a great interest in history and things of old and strives to depict events from history in his music.
He has received numerous commissions and awards, including several ASCAP awards. His Kid's Play: A Fun Suite for Orchestra was awarded a Distinguished and Special Mention at the 2009 IBLA Grand Prize Competition in Ragusa, Italy. His six-part a cappella setting of a Madison J. Cawein poem, "The Garden of Dreams," was a winner in the International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition 2011, and his choral setting of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem "The Day Is Done" was a finalist in the same competition. His most recent commissions include Song On May Morning (SATB a cappella) for Anadarko High School, Anadarko OK and Jubilate Deo (TTBB a cappella) for Voces Capituli of Antwerp, Belgium. His music is published and distributed exclusively through Tomato Lettuce Mustard Music Publishing, his own company.
