Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Miller
A career music educator, Bryan Miller served as Chair for Chicagoland’s national award-winning Leyden High Schools’ Music Department from 1994-2024. Thousands of music students enjoyed successes under his leadership. Additional affiliations have included Elmhurst University, VanderCook College, and NAfME's National Council of Music Program Leaders. He currently serves as Visiting Associate Professor and Director of Music Education for North Central College and as Brass Choir Director for the Naperville Youth Symphony Orchestra.
Also a career military musician, for 25 years Lieutenant Colonel Miller has enjoyed the honor of serving our nation as the Commander and Conductor of the 566th Air Force Band, the Air National Guard Band of the Midwest. Mission highlights include leading two Southwest Asia and Africa deployments, performances at Mount Rushmore, Rockefeller Center Plaza, Independence Hall, performances for Presidents and foreign heads of state, Apollo Astronauts, the Tuskegee Airmen, funeral memorial honors for President Ronald Reagan, and serving as Liaison Officer for COVID-19 Operations.
He is the founder and artistic director of the acclaimed Chicagoland Educators Orchestra and the Band of the Midwest, both of which he annually conducts for the Midwest Clinic’s Concert Band and Orchestra New Music Sessions. Guest conducting engagements include the United States Air Force Band, Wheaton Municipal Band, many university and community bands, the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (of which he is an alumnus), and most of our ILMEA Districts.
An accomplished trumpet artist, he performed under Maestro Daniel Barenboim with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Lyric Opera brass sections for the Arnold Jacobs memorial tribute concert at Chicago Symphony Center. His brass quintet was a Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition semi-finalist. He is a former Wheaton Municipal Band principal trumpet, NIU Jazz Ensemble alumnus, and founding member of Chicagoland’s renown Pete Ellman Big Band.