Frank Miller (cellist)
{{Short description|Principal cellist and music director}}
Frank Miller (March 5, 1912 – January 6, 1986, Skokie, Illinois) was a principal cellist and music director whose professional career spanned over a half-century.
Miller studied at the Curtis Institute of Music,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/01/09/obituaries/frank-miller-73-dies-a-leading-us-cellist.html |title=Frank Miller, 73, Dies; A Leading U.S. Cellist |date=January 9, 1986 |newspaper=The New York Times}} under Felix Salmond,{{cite web|author=Gagnon, Marie-Elaine|url=http://etd.library.miami.edu/theses/available/etd-06192006-103818/unrestricted/mgagnonfall5.pdf|title=The Influence of the French Cello School in North America|accessdate=2006-10-11|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205213818/http://etd.library.miami.edu/theses/available/etd-06192006-103818/unrestricted/mgagnonfall5.pdf|archivedate=2012-02-05}} and at age 18, joined the Philadelphia Orchestra. His longest stints were principal cellist of the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and conductor of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra. A 1950 segment of Miller playing cello in "The Swan" from Carnival of the Animals with an orchestra on The Voice of Firestone is sometimes shown on Classic Arts Showcase. While music director of the Florida Symphony Orchestra, Miller helped start the Orlando Opera company.{{Cite news |last=Manes |first=Billy |date=10 September 2009 |title=The Opera is Dead. Long Live the Opera |url=https://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/the-opera-is-dead-long-live-the-opera-2256312 |access-date=13 April 2025 |work=Orlando Weekly}}
Career
- 1930–1935: At age 18, Miller joined the Philadelphia Orchestra, under conductor Leopold Stokowski.{{cite web|url=https://www.cello.org/cnc/miller.htm|title=Frank Miller: A Commemoration|accessdate=2006-10-11}}
- 1935–1939: He joined the Minneapolis Symphony as principal cellist under conductor Eugene Ormandy, also acting as associate conductor.
- 1939–1954 He was the principal cellist of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Arturo Toscanini.
- 1954-1959 Miller was the Music Director of the Florida Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Florida{{Cite news |title=Frank Miller, Former Director of Symphony |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1986/01/10/frank-miller-former-director-of-symphony/ |access-date=3 April 2025 |work=Orlando Sentinel |pages=1}}
- 1957–1959: Casals Festival Orchestra in Puerto Rico, under Pablo Casals{{cite web|url=http://www.evanstonsymphony.org/history.php|title=Evanston Symphony Orchestra|accessdate=2007-02-11}}
- 1959–1985: He was the principal cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.{{cite web|url=http://cso.org/uploadedFiles/8_about/History_-_Rosenthal_archives/former_musicians.pdf|title=Chicago Symphony Orchestra: Former CSO Musicians|accessdate=2006-10-11}}
- 1962-1984: He served as the music director of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra.
- 1964: He co-founded the Savoyaires, a group dedicated to performing Gilbert and Sullivan operettas on Chicago's North Shore, with writer Lilias Circle.{{cite web|url=http://www.savoyaires.org/history.htm|title=Savoyaires: History|accessdate=2006-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227141829/http://www.savoyaires.org/history.htm|archive-date=2007-02-27|url-status=dead}}
He also taught at DePauw University in Chicago. {{Disputed inline|Talk page section|for=DePauw U. in Indiana, DePaul U. in Chicago. Potential error in |date=February 2024}}
References
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External links
- [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q4247|pure_url=yes}} All Music: Frank Miller: Overview]
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Category:American classical cellists
Category:Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Category:20th-century classical musicians
Category:20th-century American cellists
Category:Players of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Category:Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra
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