During the season of Epiphany, which includes the month of February this year, we have been using some distinctive music from composer Mark A. Miller for our “service music” (i.e. the Song of Praise, Gospel Acclamation, Holy, Holy, Holy, etc).
In Miller’s family, there are a number of United Methodist ministers, but the organ is what called to him at church, and he became a musician and composer. At Methodist Music Camp (his father was the director of a New Jersey music camp), he heard the music that really sparked his passion for sacred music. In an interview with The Hymn Society’s Mike McMahon, he recounts how kids in this camp in the woods would sing both children’s musicals and “serious” choral music like American composer Randall Thompson’s Alleluia and how he discovered the joy of leading music ministry as a teenage church organist. When you listen to Miller talk about worship life and his own teaching, you will, I am sure, remark how often you hear the word, “joy,” in his explanations of what he does and what he hopes to communicate with his music.
Miller is Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a lecturer in Sacred Music at Yale (where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Music). He went to The Juilliard School for his Master of Music in Organ Performance. He was a lay delegate at the 2000, 2004 and 2012 General Conferences of United Methodists, but he was busy as director of music for the 2008 General Conference. He was appointed a member of the Hymnal Revision Committee of the United Methodist Church, in 2017. He leads workshops, preaches and presents concerts across the USA and around the world. He also tours with his band, S2C (Subject to Change), sometimes doing all those things, together.
For more:
Interview with Mark A. Miller:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YEkAoRszZM
Randall Thompson’s Alleluia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21KRBIolbe8
Photo from ECS Publishing Group:
https://www.ecspublishing.com/composers/m/mark-a-miller.html