Alexander Lamont Miller, Composer Press

“A vibrant new work by Alexander Lamont Miller was among the pleasures on an all-American concert by the San Antonio Symphony, Nov. 14 in the Tobin Center. Teddy Abrams, in his first season as music director of the Louisville Orchestra, was the guest conductor. Mr. Miller’s Scherzo Crypto, his contribution to the orchestra’s season-long series of brief “American Preludes” commissions, is a wild, nutty, propulsive, intensely rhythmic piece with gobs of brilliant color from riotous percussion and pugilistic brass, though a quiet, mysterious midsection showcases the strings and woodwinds. It’s an exciting, complex piece, recalling in some ways the best mid-20th-century American symphonists. Mr. Abrams led a spirited, well-crafted performance.”

—Mike Greenberg, “Incident Light” 11/15/14

MADAME BOVARY, CONCERTO FOR CELLO

“Alexander Miller’s magnificent “Madame Bovary, Concerto for Cello and Orchestra” is another matter entirely. Principal cellist Alicia Eppinga gave a heart-wrenching, world premiere performance. Miller, assistant principal oboist and longtime composer for the Grand Rapids Symphony, has given the orchestra several fine additions to its repertoire over the years. This tops the lot. A concerto with a timeless appeal, it's is inspired by the novel about Emma Bovary, a woman of passion and imagination, stifled by a provincial life, who turns to a series of scandalous affairs to relieve her ennui. The 32-minute, cinematic work tells of the farm girl's life from her first taste of fashionable society to her unhappy marriage and series of affairs ending in her suicide and death. It helps to know the story, but it's not necessary. It's a dramatic score full of color, often surprising. Not only with such unusual instruments as cow bells and bongo drums, not only with Bovary's illicit lovers portrayed by a stuttering bass clarinet or a raw French horn, but with unconventional duets between, say, cello and piccolo, and cello and tuba. Miller wrote the work for Eppinga, a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1989 and principal cellist for the past two seasons. It's immediately apparent from her relaxed but focused performance that she knows it intimately. Eppinga was very much a collaborator on the creation of the work, contributing melodies in the slow, middle movement, yearning melodies one could imagine Tchaikovsky and Wagner arm wrestling over. It's a virtuosic score for soloist, but in a subtle and beguiling way. The show doesn't stop for an elaborate, show-off cadenza. Rather, through a series of scenes, from dancing at a ball, to a scandalous carriage ride with an illicit lover, it dawns on you slowly the full measure of what Eppinga is accomplishing while playing a score that uses all of the possible tricks of the trade. With a little luck, the "Madame Bovary Concerto" will continue to be heard in the future.”

—Grand Rapids Press 9/21/13

ARTICLE IN SYMPHONY MAGAZINE ABOUT ORCHESTRAL PERFORMERS WHO COMPOSE

—Symphony Magazine, Fall 2012 issue

CADENZAS FOR MOZART’S FLUTE AND HARP CONCERTO, K.299/297c

“Soloists in the 18th century improvised their cadenzas in concertos. Alexander Miller, assistant principal oboist by night, affiliated composer by day, contributed solo cadenzas for Kantner and Colpean that were as authentic in style as they were adventurous with modulations to distant keys not at all likely under 18th century operating conditions. Then there was the musical reference to Mozart's characters of Papageno and Papagena from – what else? The Magic Flute. Simply wicked.” —Grand Rapids Press 10/26/13

ENCAUSTIC FOR SOLO CLARINET AND ORCHESTRA

“‘Encaustic,’ a 10-minute portrayal of wax painting, perhaps the most abstract piece, featured the clarinetist as the artist and the orchestra as the wax paint. Sliding string lines began subtly, later thickening as other instruments joined, first up and down the scale, then in ostinato rhythms, molded and colored by intricate clarinet runs. Eventually the artwork overflowed the artist, until the two were indistinguishable. Then a role reversal brought the return of the opening motive, the art issuing the call and the artist responding until all blended in a finishing statement.”

—Grand Rapids Press 10/7/11

REMIX IN D

“Jumping forward 317 years, the orchestra followed with ‘Remix in D,’ a slightly longer, 8-minute contemporary homage to Pachelbel’s 5-minute piece by Alexander Miller, assistant principal oboist by title, composer-in-residence by default. Fingerprints from Pachelbel’s canon — sometimes obvious, often artfully disguised — make up the imaginative piece with brass and percussion contributing to a festive opening and conclusion with an almost, though not quite, jazzy center.”

—Grand Rapids Press 5/7/11

FIREWORKS

“‘Fireworks’ drew an enthusiastic response from the audience for its eight minutes of tummy-tickling fun. Commissioned by the orchestra especially for its 75th anniversary, it was a worthy companion to the pieces by Stravinsky and Ravel. Miller wrote ‘Fireworks’ to depict Roman Candles, Wagon Wheels and Chinese Snow flying into the sky and falling back to Earth with all the expected fizzles and sizzles. Miller filled the piece with sly asides and whimsical moments, ending it with seven then five powerful beats to indicate the symphony’s 75th anniversary.”

—Grand Rapids Press 9/11/04

“The Miller and Kodály pieces in particular used the full range of the dynamic spectrum and instrumental color, and the results were impressive. Harp, piano and percussion were prominently featured in the well-named ‘Fireworks,’ which I found to be engaging and energetic. Here the winds showed off many complex note and rhythm patterns which they tossed off without hesitation.”

—Modesto Bee 11/8/08

MEMORY BOX

“Miller — unofficial composer-in-residence — composed ‘Memory Box’ in memory of his late mother. Emphasizing chimes and sounds such as bows applied to orchestra bells and vibraphone, a haunting effect, it used unusual but melodic sounds to work its magic.”

—Grand Rapids Press 3/2/07

DREAM WINDOW

“Lavish harmonies, colorful orchestration and riveting excitement!”

—Eric Ewazen 3/11/03