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November 20, 2009
A composer in demand
Miller’s new piece is a VSO Olympic celebration.
ELIZABETH NIDER
The achievements of Jared Miller are astonishing, but what is even more remarkable is the amount of time and effort he puts into educating members of the community about classical music.
Miller is a Jewish-Canadian composer and pianist currently based in Vancouver. His compositions have been played by numerous artists and ensembles, including the Vancouver and Victoria symphony orchestras, the University of British Columbia Symphony Orchestra and pianists Sukyung Park, Devon Joiner, Chihiro Honma, Sunny Qu, Phillip Lockwood and Margaret Lu. Miller has received commissions from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the UBC Contemporary Players Ensemble and the Howe Sound Performing Arts Association. He was recently commissioned by Tom Lee Music to write a piece for the unveiling of a Steinway Artcase piano decorated with Haida artwork.
As a pianist, Miller enthusiastically plays as a chamber musician as well as a recital soloist. In 2008, he was awarded the Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award, the top prize, in a nation-wide competition.
Miller began taking piano lessons when he was seven and, even at that age, he saw composing and playing in and of each other – he would practise what his piano teacher gave him and then make up pieces on his own.
“I have always grown up around music,” Miller recalled in an interview with the Independent. “My first memory of classical music is watching the original Disney Fantasia, and I just felt a spark when I watched it.”
He continued, “I’ve had excellent and inspiring teachers throughout my musical upbringing and I feel that it’s important to give back and to be equally as inspiring as my teachers were for me. I also think it is important to introduce classical and contemporary music to younger audiences so that they can get as much enjoyment out of it as I do.”
His passion for classical music has led him to become actively involved in the VSO Connects program. For several seasons, Miller has been teaching elementary school students about the basics of composition. “I try to take some of the musical elements and associate it with something they’re used to. I play music and then associate it with pictorial images; the reaction is just absolute enjoyment.”
Being an advocate for musical outreach prompted Miller to contribute to the Artsway Ambassador program, which brings musicians to play for residents at care facilities throughout the Lower Mainland. Miller plays for the residents and discusses the music with them as well. “The point of it is to reach out to audiences that aren’t necessarily able to go to a concert; basically we are bringing the music to them.”
The first time Miller played at a care facility was when his grandparents were at the Louis Brier Home and Hospital. He and his mother would go to visit and there sat a piano, collecting dust. Miller would play for whoever wanted to listen. Looking back, Miller realizes that these visits made him want to reach out to others through music.
The 2009/2010 season brings with it exciting achievements for the young talent. Miller entered a national competition and was one of five, out of more than 50, composers chosen to create a piece for the VSO in celebration of the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. His piece, 2010 Traffic Jam will première at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on Dec. 5.
The name quite accurately describes the inspiration for the composition. While Miller believes that the Olympics are incredible and exciting, the percussive sounds of the construction and traffic on Cambie Street gave him the idea “to try something off kilter.... [The piece is] satirical and bombastic at times.”
In January, internationally renowned concert pianist Sara Davis Buechner will première Miller’s first piano sonata, Instincts, in a province-wide tour. “Sara is a fantastic pianist,” said Miller. “I studied with her for three years, and I was thrilled when she asked me to do a piece for her. She can do anything on the piano and is very inspirational. I made the piece very hard because I knew that she could play it.”
Elizabeth Nider is a freelance writer living in Richmond.
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