A Band comprised of the former members of The Band of the Midwest will perform selections of new music submitted by exhibiting publishers.
Lt Col Bryan Miller
- Biographical Information
For nearly a quarter century, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Miller has been honored to serve our nation as Commander and Conductor of the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest, the 566th Air Force Band, a National Medal of Arts recipient organization. Mission highlights included leading teams for two Southwest Asia and Africa deployments, Mount Rushmore’s Independence Day Celebration, Rockefeller Center Plaza’s Centennial of Flight Exposition, the Liberty Medal Ceremony at Independence Hall, performances honoring Apollo Astronauts, the Tuskegee Airmen, Gold Star Families, the Warrior Games, funeral memorial honors for President Ronald Reagan, and serving as a Liaison Officer for the Illinois National Guard’s COVID-19 Military Vaccination Augmentation Team mission.A career music educator, Bryan Miller served as Music Chair for Chicagoland’s national award-winning Leyden High Schools from 1994-2024. Thousands of music students enjoyed successes under his leadership. Concurrent appointments included Elmhurst University, VanderCook College, and NAfME's National Council of Music Program Leaders. He currently serves as Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Music Education for North Central College and as Brass Choir Director for the Naperville Youth Symphony Orchestra. He annually leads both the Concert Band and Orchestra New Music Sessions for the Midwest Clinic, the latter of which he founded in 2012. Guest conducting engagements include the United States Air Force Band, the Wheaton Municipal Band, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, ILMEA, ISYM, and numerous military, university, and community bands. A CYSO alumnus, he has served on its Board of Directors since 2002. He regularly serves as a presenter, conductor, or performer for NAfME, The Midwest Clinic, ILMEA, and mentoring conductors.An accomplished trumpet artist, he performed under Maestro Daniel Barenboim with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera brass sections for the Arnold Jacobs memorial tribute concert at Chicago Symphony Center. His brass quintet was a Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition semi-finalist. He is a NIU Jazz Ensemble alumnus and founding member of Chicagoland’s renown Pete Ellman Big Band.
The entire marvel that has become The Midwest Clinic grew out of a new music for concert band reading session, envisioned by highly dedicated Chicagoland music educators as an opportunity to broaden relationships and advance our noble profession. Starting in 2004, the Bands of the Air National Guard became an integral part of this tradition, annually supporting the New Band Music Reading Session. When the entire Air National Guard Bands Program was inactivated, its final public performance was given for the 2023 Midwest Clinic. Today, the Band of the Midwest proudly continues this long legacy of highly capable and committed Chicagoland music educator artists’ service to the Midwest Clinic. This outstanding ensemble is comprised of military musicians, Chicagoland Educators Orchestra wind and percussionists, and Chicagoland educator artists–all of which generously give of their time and talents for the greater good–which is essentially the history of The Midwest Clinic! Thank you for sharing some of your precious clinic time with us today. We hope our performance is a meaningful and uplifting experience, celebrating excellent new works by our composers, arrangers, and publishers, and energizing the music educators committed to teaching this literature to our next generation of young artists.