Sad passing of a vocal pedagogy legend

I am deeply saddened to report the death of Professor Emeritus of Voice at Oberlin College, Richard Miller. Richard died Tuesday, May 5, 2009. It is impossible to capture in words the significance of Richard's contribution to the field of music as an artist, teacher, and mentor; it was utterly extraordinary. After 42 years of advancing the art of teaching and the name of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Richard retired at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. Richard Miller's rich performance career was distinguished by diversity in opera (some 50 roles in more than 450 performances), oratorio and recital, in Europe and America. He is known internationally for master classes in systematic vocal technique and artistic interpretation presented in 38 states of the U.S., in Europe, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Research and teaching projects have been undertaken in 14 European countries. Miller taught 28 years at the Mozarteum International Summer Academy, Salzburg, Austria. Beginning in 1982, he presented countless week-long master classes at the Foundation Royaumont, the major French conference center for music. Engaged by the French Ministry of Culture as an expert pedagogic consultant in 1983, he offered courses in voice pedagogy for teachers and students of the French national conservatory system, presented lectures and classes at the Paris Conservatoire Superieure, at the Marseilles National Opera School, and at Centre Polyphonique. In May, 1990, he was decorated Chevalier/Officier into the French Order of Arts and Letters at the hand of Madame Regine Crespin "in recognition of contributions to the art of vocalism in France and throughout the world." In 2006 Miller received the Voice Education Research Awareness Award from The Voice Foundation for his contribution to the field of voice communication. He was chief presenter at several international voice congresses. He was a frequent adjudicator, including Munich, Paris, Metropolitan Scholarship and National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award competitions. His students perform in major opera houses: Metropolitan Opera, New York State (City Center), San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Washington, Baltimore, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Welsh Opera, English National Opera, Montreal, Santiago, Trieste, Palermo, La Scala, Rome Opera, Paris Bastille, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Cologne, Salzburg, Vienna, and in numerous artist apprenticeship programs in America and Europe. Former students serve on faculties of major schools of music. He is the author of many standard books on voice pedagogy and performance, including: * English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing (Scarecrow, 1977, reissued 1997) * The Structure of Singing (Schirmer Books/Macmillan, 1986) (published by the French Ministry of Culture as La Structure du Chant, 1990) * Training Tenor Voices (Schirmer Books/Macmillan, 1993. Korean edition, 1994) * On the Art of Singing (Oxford University Press, 1996) * Singing Schumann: an Interpretive Guide for Performers (Oxford University Press, Summer, 1999) * Training Soprano Voices (Oxford University Press, Spring, 2000. Korean edition, 2004) * Solutions for Singers: Tools for Performers and Teachers (Oxford University Press, January, 2004) * Securing Baritone, Bass-Baritone, and Bass Voices (Oxford University Press, Spring 2007) * Singing in Western Civilization (at press) He is editor of Liszt: 25 French and Italian Songs for Voice and Piano, 15 Songs of Max Roger (International Music, 2002), and Liszt: 22 German Songs for Voice and Piano, in High and Low editions (International Music, 1998). Miller served as Wheeler Professor of Music Performance at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music from 1964-2004. He holds the B. Mus., M. Mus. (University of Michigan), Artist Diploma (L'Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Rome) and the L.H.D. (Doctor of Humanities), Gustavus Adolphus College, and was a 1952 Fulbright Scholar.