ABOUT
Chicago-based violist Rebecca Miller has extensive experience across a variety of genres, with a focus on contemporary music and opera.
Rebecca is enthusiastic about collaborating with stage productions. She currently holds the viola chair for the North American tour of Maybe Happy Ending, and is a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera orchestra. She has previously played in productions with Opera Festival of Chicago, Chicago Summer Opera, San Diego’s Opera NEO, the Boston Opera Collaborative, and Commonwealth Lyric Opera, and a number of musical theater productions.
A dedicated advocate for music of the modern era, Rebecca is a co-founder and artistic director of the Vanishing Point Ensemble, and has presented a number of contemporary chamber programs throughout Chicago, including a performance as part of the 2025 Ear Taxi Festival. She was involved in a 2024 performance of Steven Takasugi’s Sideshow with the Bienen School of Music’s Contemporary Music Ensemble. She has premiered works by many young composers and performed in several contemporary music ensembles, notably alongside cellist Anssi Kartunnen, violist Steven Dann, and composer Magnus Lindberg as part of Creative Dialogue France. In 2019, she toured alongside violinist/violist Laura Thompson, presenting a contemporary duo program, including two commissions, in Boston, New York, and Milwaukee. She has taken part in Chicago’s Ear Taxi and NUNC Festivals, Toronto’s 21C Festival, and enjoyed multiple seasons with the NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists.
Rebecca is assistant principal viola for the Northwest Indiana and West Michigan Symphonies, and also performs with the Elgin Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, Orchestra Iowa, and Camerata Chicago. She has been part of the Spoleto USA Festival Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra’s Mentorship Program in Ottawa, performing as part of the NAC Orchestra.
Outside of the concert hall, she has been involved both as a performer and an organizer with Shelter Music Boston, bringing chamber music to underserved audiences in shelters and rehabilitation facilities throughout New England.
Rebecca holds degrees from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, the Glenn Gould School, and the Boston Conservatory. She studied with Peter Slowik, Helen Callus, Steven Dann, Rictor Noren, Nicholas Cords, and Lewis Rosove. She is a proud member of the CFM/AFM Local 10-208.
When not performing, she enjoys knitting, hiking, biking, strong coffee, and a good book.