Joe Miller is conductor of two of America’s most renowned choral ensembles – the Westminster Choir and the Westminster Symphonic Choir.  As director of choral activities at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J., he also oversees an extensive choral program that includes eight ensembles.

His recordings with the Westminster Choir have garnered critical praise.  His debut CD, Flower of Beauty, was described by American Record Guide as setting “the gold standard.”  Noël, a collection of French Christmas music recorded at New York’s Cathedral of Saint John the Divine with renowned mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, was the centerpiece of a 2010 national public radio holiday program.  

His 2012-2013 season with the Westminster Choir will include a concert tour of the upper Midwest, several national radio broadcasts, performances at the American Choral Directors Association National Conference in Dallas, concerts in Princeton and their annual residency at the Spoleto Festival USA.  

His season with the Symphonic Choir will include collaborations with The Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Verdi's Requiem and Bach's St. Matthew Passion); the London Philharmonia and Esa Pekka Salonen (Berg's Wozzeck); the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela and Gustavo Dudamel (Villa-Lobos' Choros No. 10 and Estevez Cantata criolla); and West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim (Beethoven's Symphony No. 9).  He will also conduct the Westminster Symphonic Choir and the Westminster Festival Orchestra in a performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah in Princeton.

Dr. Miller is also founder and conductor of the Westminster Chamber Choir, a program that offers professional-level choral and vocal artists the opportunity to explore challenging works for two weeks each summer on the Westminster campus in Princeton.    He also leads the annual Westminster Choral Festival, which welcomes singers and conductors to study and perform a major choral work with orchestra.

In demand as a guest conductor and clinician, his recent residencies have included the Berlin Radio Symphony Chorus, Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and Temple University.  This season he will serve as conductor of the Ohio All State Choir and headliner for the Maryland Music Educators Conference, and he will return for a second residency with the Berlin Radio Symphony Chorus.

Reflecting on the role that choral music plays in the nation's cultural life, he said at a Chorus America conference, “Choral music in the United States has seen unprecedented growth in the past several decades.  The influence of our past leaders is part of our fabric, but we must seize this time to create a new vision based on the foundation that has been laid before us.  We must keep the traditions but be willing to change in order to build a vision for the future.”

Dr. Miller earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in choral conducting from the College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and voice from the University of Tennessee.