Rebecca Miller, celebrated for her energetic and compelling presence on the podium, is a champion of unjustly-neglected female composers and renowned for her extensive work with young musicians. She was Chief Conductor of the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra from 2019-23 and takes up new posts with the Royal Orchestral Society and Orchestra of the Swan from September 2023.
California-born conductor Rebecca Miller has earned international acclaim for her compelling, insightful, and energetic presence on the podium and for her ability to communicate with audiences of all ages. She spreads her work between professional, amateur and youth orchestras and choirs, and is passionate about music’s relevance to our society, artistic citizenship, and championing unduly-neglected female composers. She is currently Director of Orchestras at Royal Holloway University, Principal Conductor of the Royal Orchestral Society, Principal Conductor of the Bishop’s Stortford Sinfonia, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra of the Swan. She most recently served as Chief Conductor of the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra in Sweden from 2019-2023.
Her guest conducting includes the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony, Västerås Symphony, DalaSinfonietta, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London Mozart Players, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, and National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. First prize winner in the Eduardo Mata International Conducting Competition, she has conducted throughout Mexico, including repeated engagements with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional, Orquesta Filarmonica del UNAM, and the state orchestras of Yucatan, Aguascalientes, and Sinaloa. In 2017, Rebecca was also featured in the Bruno Walter National Conductors Preview with the Nashville Symphony.
Rebecca’s discography includes CDs with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (CPE Bach Symphonies / Signum Records, which made the final shortlist for a 2014 Gramophone Award), with the BBC Concert Orchestra (Henry Hadley Orchestral works / Dutton Epoch), and with the BBC Scottish Symphony (piano concertos by Amy Beach, Dorothy Howell, Cecil Chaminade / Hyperion Records), and three CDs with the Royal Northern Sinfonia (Haydn Symphonies / Signum Records. Her most recent recording is of the orchestral music of Dorothy Howell with the BBC Concert Orchestra for Signum, which will be released in March 2024.
Rebecca is passionate about her work with young musicians – she works regularly with the National Children’s Orchestra and LSO Discovery, and has also guest conducted the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland, Wales, and Great Britain, and the National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela. She was conductor at the Royal Academy of Music’s Junior Department for many years, where she formed the groundbreaking and unique JA Classical Orchestra, and previously served as Associate Conductor of the Southbank Sinfonia in London.
As Director of Orchestras at Royal Holloway University of London, she has been widely acclaimed for building the orchestral programme to new heights – starting an orchestral scholarship programme, initiating a side-by-side programme with the London Mozart Players, securing high-profile engagements (including ‘Magna Carta 800 at Runnymede’ a project with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Temple Church Choir, performed in the the presence of HM Queen Elizabeth II and 4000 dignitaries and honoured guests), and establishing a new initiative called ‘Music +’, which aims to build bridges through music with interdepartmental projects and interdisciplinary research.
Previously, Rebecca served as Resident Conductor of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and American Conducting Fellow of The Houston Symphony, and Assistant Conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. She holds a B.Mus. in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory, an M.Mus in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University, and for two years was the Paul Woodhouse Junior Fellow in Orchestral Conducting at London’s Royal College of Music.
Rebecca Miller reflects on her philosophy and work as a conductor in 'Festival, Interrupted' from Royal Holloway, University of London where she is also Director of Orchestras. Read more
Sparkling woodwind were to the fore (not least the noble bassoons), but every department excelled in this account, the agile, insightful Miller characterising every motif tumbling from this masterwork
Christopher Morley, Midlands Classical Music Making
Energetic and tightly wound, [Miller] sold Beethoven's Fourth Symphony as I doubt it has ever been sold before. The performance was taut and explosive.
It is not possible to see the sparks, but you can certainly hear them. The music’s ebullient sense of discovery courses through the performances and the live recording is vivid.
Richard Fairman, Financial Times
If you’re still a CPE novice, I can’t think of a better introduction to his brand of inspired eccentricity than these terrific, high-octane performances, live in every sense.
Rebecca Miller inspires the Royal Northern Sinfonia to play with captivating spontaneity, heartfelt phrasing and immaculate internal balancing, enhanced by impactful sonics from Simon Fox-Gál. A winner.
Miller’s performance is simply stunning and gives the work the fair trial that Bristow and his compatriots argued they deserved.
Douglas Shadle, Nineteenth-Century Music Review
These Royal Northern Sinfonia performances are first class: while the American conductor Rebecca Miller sets convincing tempos and secures the crispest ensemble, she has also evidently taken immense care over nuances of phrasing and the players respond accordingly.