Staff



Todd Randall Miller
www.toddmillermusician.com
Todd Randall Miller has conducted the Kingwood Chorale and Chamber Orchestra since 1996.  Under his baton the KC and CO has performed most of the moderate-length choral masterworks dating from the Baroque through the Twentieth Centuries for the enjoyment of the greater Northeast Houston community.
In 2007 he made his Carnegie Hall debut for MidAmerica Productions, leading the 160- voice Kingwood Area Grand Chorus, the New England Chamber Ensemble and soloists in Mozart’s Vesperae Solennes de Confessore. Dr. Miller made his professional opera conducting debut in the Opera in the Heights’ (TX) production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. He also is a frequent conductor of choral workshops for church and schools.
Miller has been fortunate to have worked with several leading American composers, including Henry Mollicone, Richard Faith, and Carlisle Floyd. Miller commemorated Floyd’s eightieth birthday last season in a retrospective concert of his works, enhanced by the composer’s presence and commentary on the compositional process for each opera.
He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in voice and conducting from the Moores School of Music-University of Houston, where he studied under Charles Hausmann, Katherine Ciesinski, Elena Nikolaidi, and Carlisle Floyd. He also holds vocal performance degrees from the University of Arizona and the University of Louisville. He also maintains an active singing career, and recent solo performances having included the Houston Symphony, Houston Chamber Choir, and Da Camera Society.
Professor of Music at Lone Star College-Kingwood (formerly Kingwood College), Miller conducts the Chamber Singers and is the producing director and conductor of the summer opera program.  He recently received one of three annual awards at Kingwood College for teaching excellence, and was twice college’s nominee for the prestigious Piper Foundation award for excellence in teaching. He also served as Director of Music at Kingwood’s Strawbridge United Methodist Church from 1994-2007.

Jay Whatley is Associate Professor of Music and Lead Faculty at Lone Star College – Kingwood, where he coordinates the applied keyboard, class piano & theory programs. He holds both the BM & MM in Piano Performance & Pedagogy, and completed coursework for the DMA in Piano Performance & Pedagogy with Betty Mallard, Martha Hilley & Sophia Gilmson, and in Organ Performance with Frank Speller, at the University of Texas at Austin. Additional study and master classes have been with Jane Abbott-Kirk and William Doppmann (piano) and Lenora McCroskey, Jesse Eschbach, and William Mathias (organ).

In high demand as a collaborative artist, chamber musician, & continuo player, Whatley maintains an active & varied career at the state, regional & national levels. He has performed with such notable choral conductors as Robert Sund, Maria Guinand, Craig Jessop, Charles Bruffy, and Sigrid Johnson. He was recently selected to accompany the 2009 Texas Music Educators Association All-State Men’s Choir under the direction of Larry Kaptein, and also a large festival choir under the direction of Andre Thomas in February 2009. He collaborated with Allen Hightower and the SHSU Chorale in performances at TMEA (San Antonio) and ACDA (Miami), as well as on the Chorale’s tour of Italy. Solo organ recitals include Salzburg’s Dome Cathedral and Bath Abbey; he was guest soloist in a performance of Poulenc’s Organ Concerto at St. John’s Smith Square, London. Along with Dr. Todd Miller, tenor, Marion Russell Dickson, soprano, and Dr. Shannon Hesse, pianist, he will present a program of new American art song in Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in March 2009.

Whatley is a successful vocal coach and répétiteur, with students repeatedly winning Regional Auditions of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and also the coveted Grady Harlan Award from the Texoma Region of NATS. His reputation, especially as an interpreter of recitative, has led him to coach both studio artists and principal leads at Houston Grand Opera, and the occasional visiting Metropolitan Opera soprano.

In addition to his busy career as a performer and teacher, Whatley also serves as organist of Cypress Creek Christian Church, home of The Centrum and The Forum concert halls. Under the direction of Clara Lewis, Minister of Music, the Cypress Creek Community Chorale has performed concerts in Bavaria & Salzburg, and London & Bath. The church has embarked on fundraising to culminate in a large concert organ by renowned builder Manuel Rosales.

As an active member of Music Teachers National Association, Texas Music Teachers Association, and Cypress Creek Music Teachers Association, Whatley is in his first year of a three-year appointment as Piano Competitions Chair for TMTA. He is a frequent adjudicator, most recently for the World Piano Pedagogy Conference in Atlanta, with another invitation to adjudicate at the 2008 World Conference in Dallas.

Jay is a familiar face at professional conferences and conventions. He has presented conference sessions for the TMEA and TMTA, as well as performances at TMEA, TMTA, MTNA, and ACDA. He recently accepted an invitation to join the Oxford Round Table, held at Oxford University, where he will present a paper in July 2009. He is an active member of TMEA, TMTA, American Guild of Organists, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and Mensa, among others.