American violist Rebecca Miller is a dynamic and versatile musician, performing in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings across a variety of genres. She believes in the power of music and art to foster connections, build communities, and drive change. Based in Chicago, she maintains an active performing and teaching career, and seeks to expand the classical music audience by challenging the boundaries of the genre and by broadening access to live performance in oft-forgotten communities.

A passionate chamber musician, Rebecca has most recently played as a member of the Highwood Quartet, appearing at chamber music venues throughout the Toronto area and earning a top prize in the 2022 Glenn Gould School Chamber Music Competition. Rebecca has worked with members of the Takács, Ying, Ethel, and Lydian Quartets. She has also been a prizewinner in the 2015 Boston Conservatory Chamber Music Competition, and 2017 Boston Conservatory String Honors Competition. Outside of the concert hall, she has been involved both as a performer and as an organizer with Shelter Music Boston, bringing chamber music to underserved audiences in shelters and rehabilitation facilities throughout New England.

Rebecca is currently an associate member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and has performed frequently as a section player with symphony orchestras, appearing throughout the greater New England and Toronto areas with the Esprit Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, Niagara Symphony, Symphony New Hampshire, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Bedford Symphony. She recently completed the 2023 National Academy Orchestra’s Mentorship Program in Ottawa, performing as part of the NAC Orchestra. She has extensive experience as a pit orchestra musician, performing in productions with San Diego’s Opera NEO, the Boston Opera Collaborative, MassOpera, MetroWest Opera, Commonwealth Lyric Opera, Umbrella Theater, and Moonbox Theater, and is enthusiastic about the power of combining music and narrative. In her experience as an orchestral musician, she has had the privilege of playing under the batons of renowned conductors, including Sir Mark Elder, Riccardo Muti, Johannes Debus, Earl Lee, Benjamin Zander, Lidiya Yankovskaya, Jonathan MacPhee, and Roger Kalia, on such stages as Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, National Sawdust, Uihlein Hall, and Koerner Hall.

In addition to her work as a chamber and orchestral musician, Rebecca is a dedicated advocate for music of the modern era, and devotes herself to the study and programming of new works, especially those written by historically underrepresented composers. She has performed with many contemporary ensembles, including Creative Dialogue France, the Esprit Orchestra, 21C Festival, Chimera New Music Project, JANVS Project, and Ambient Orchestra, and has enjoyed multiple seasons with the NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists. In 2019, Rebecca toured alongside violinist & violist Laura Thompson, presenting a contemporary program of duo works, including two commissions, in Boston, New York City, and Milwaukee.

A native of Illinois, Rebecca began her musical studies at the age of 10 with the Illinois State University’s String Project. She is currently a student of Helen Callus, pursuing a Master’s Degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. She holds an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School in Toronto, Ontario, where she studied with Steven Dann, and a B.M. in Viola Performance from the Boston Conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated summa cum laude under the tutelage of Rictor Noren. She has had additional studies with Nicholas Cords and Lewis Rosove, and has played for such artists as Martin Outram, Carol Rodland, Roger Tapping, Peter Slowik, Steve Tenenbom, Karen Dreyfus, Marcus Thompson, Roger Myers, Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Peter Slowik, and Nadia Sirota. Festival appearances include Creative Dialogue France, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) Mentorship Program, the National Academy Orchestra, NEXT Festival of Emerging Artists, Green Mountain Chamber Music, and Credo-Oberlin Chamber Music.

Rebecca is a proud member of AFM Local 149 (Toronto Musicians' Association). When not performing, she enjoys hiking, biking, strong coffee, and a good book.