About Michael
Select credits: Madama Butterfly (Prince Yamadori/Registrar) and Don Giovanni (Masetto) with Florida Grand Opera; The Handmaid’s Tale (Man/Ensemble) with Boston Lyric Opera; Silent Night (Lt. Audebert) and The Crucible (Thomas Putnam) with The Glimmerglass Festival; The Grapes of Wrath (Pete Fowler/Ragged Man/Bill) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Eugene Onegin (Eugene Onegin) and Dead Man Walking (Joseph DeRocher) with Boston Conservatory Opera.
Education: Boston Conservatory at Berklee (Master of Music, 2018), University of Michigan (Bachelor of Music, 2016)
To Watch
Cocktails, Concerts, and Conversations, Week 1
”Beautiful. Anonymous.” (Chautauqua Opera Song Cycle)
Opera Invasion 1: Ballads on Balconies, Tour B
Opera Invasion 2: Opera Open Book
Opera Invasion 3: Miller Bell Tower Sing-a-long
Opera Invasion 4: Grand Finale - A Musical Tour of the Institution Grounds
Young Artist Interview
Q: What is your hometown?
A: Meadville, PA - only 1.5 hours from Chautauqua!
Q: What was the first opera you saw and how old were you?
A: I saw Amahl and the Night Visitors with my grandfather when I was 15.
Q: What was the first opera in which you performed?
A: I sang Pinellino in Gianni Schicchi for a local college (Mercyhurst College) my senior year of high school. I had one line, but was hooked!
Q: Opera features some pretty iconic characters. Who is your favorite operatic character and why?
A: Figaro from Il Barbiere di Siviglia, because he is a jack-of-all-trades, is witty, and has a big heart. Not to mention, he has some of the most fun music in the baritone repertoire!
Q: Who are your opera singing idols?
A: Sir Thomas Allen, Bryn Terfel, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Q: What do you love most about opera?
A: I love the fact that it combines so many different art forms to tell deeply human stories in a way that no other art form can. From grand tragedies to light-hearted love stories, opera can draw audiences in to any story and take us to a different world, if only for a few hours.
Q: Chautauquans love their ice-cream! What is your favorite flavor?
A: I’m a sucker for Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked, or any cookie dough ice cream.
Photo caption: Michael Miller as the title role in Eugene Onegin at Boston Conservatory (2018). Photo by Max Wagenblass.