BIO
|
Described by the LA Times as “deceptively laid back in an LA way…inventive…unconventional,” Alexander Elliott Miller is a composer, guitarist and educator based in Southern California.
Many of Miller’s compositions feature the guitar as a solo instrument with electronic accompaniment or in integrated in contemporary classical chamber ensembles. His largest projects are ANTIBODYPOLITIC, an album length project of pandemic themed works for electric guitar and synthesizers released in 2025, and TO….OBLIVION: Historic Landmarks Around Los Angeles. Antibodypolitic was described by Grammy winning guitarist and KPFK 90.7 Global Village host John Schneider as "power guitar;" To....Oblivion is a collection of pieces inspired by six lost landmarks in Los Angeles, each of some social or symbolic significance, scored for solo electric guitar, foley-style sound effects, live processing and video slideshow of evolving “then and now" images. The album received profiles in the LAist and Long Beach Press Telegram, and a 2019 performance at Boston Court Pasadena was listed in the LA Times “8 Best Things to do this Weekend.” His music has been performed by Grammy nominated artists Vicki Ray, Tony Arnold and Aron Kallay, and he has written works featuring his guitar playing for the HOCKET piano duo, Panic Duo, and for his own guitar percussion duo with Ben Phelps. His guitar and saxophone duo Chaparral, originally commissioned and recorded by the Duo Montagnard, has been frequently included on their concert tours, and further toured and recorded by the Duo Confluence in Italy and other duos around the world. He has performed as a guitarist with ensembles and organizations including Brightwork New Music, Long Beach Opera, the Sierre Madre Playhouse and Pasadena Pro Musica. Other honors include a MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Earplay Donald Aird Composers Award and in 2017, and pianist Vincent Craig performed Miller’s piano solo Actions & Resonances at Carnegie Hall. He is a dedicated educator, having had the opportunity to serve for over a decade on the faculty of California State University Long Beach, where he teaches all levels of composition, theory and musicianship at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music, and at Chapman University. Miller holds degrees from USC, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. He lives in Long Beach, CA, with his girlfriend Christen and their dachshund, Nessie. |
Photo: Andrew Reitsma
|
MUSIC
|
Original Compositions for Guitar & Electronics
Running Spring is an original composition for live electric guitar and a synthesizer soundtrack created during the Covid 19 pandemic, inspired my experiences of getting into running during that time. This is a driven and determined work, with rock, electronic and cinematic influences.
|
In the Company of Thoughts is a second original composition, also for live electric guitar and synth bass soundtrack, created during quarantine. Recorded for my album "Antibodypolitic," the same album as Running Spring, this is a quieter, more contemplative, classically influenced composition.
|
|
Performance with Chamber Ensembles
"She, by Laura Mvula" is a work arranged by my friend, composer and pianist Sarah Gibson (1986 - 2024) for a collaborative concert in 2021. I joined her ensemble, HOCKET, with composer and pianist Thomas Kotcheff, and a guest violinist Nick Bentz, to perform her arrangement.
|
Arranging for Guitar
I have a passion for arranging pop songs, jazz and film scores for guitar in a solo chord melody style. Here is an example of my arranging, John Williams' "Yoda's Theme" from The Empire Strikes Back.
|
|
Commissioned Compositions
Chaparral is a duo for alto saxophone and classical guitar commissioned by the Duo Montagnard for their 2020 California tour.
|
Aftermath is a trio for electric guitar and piano, 4-hands, commissioned by HOCKET (Sarah Gibson & Thomas Kotcheff) for their Composer-Performer Initiative project in 2021.
|
PRESS
GALLERY
|
|
CONTACT