The NDSU School of Music announced Andrew J. Miller is the first-place recipient of the annual Edwin Fissinger Choral Competition. Elizabeth Lim was named second-place recipient.
Miller is a choral conductor, clinician, vocalist, composer, arranger and educator in Bismarck, N.D. He earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal music education from Bemidji State University prior to receiving his master’s degree in choral conducting from Minnesota State University-Mankato. He has been teaching choral music in Minnesota and North Dakota since 2007 and currently serves as director of choral activities for Bismarck State College.
Miller was the founder and artistic director of the Minnesota-based professional vocal ensemble From Age to Age, which has performed at American Choral Director Association state and regional conferences. The ensemble also was featured in Minnesota Public Radio’s “A Taste of the Holiday” and “Regional Spotlight.” Miller currently directs a vocal chamber ensemble in Bismarck called Inspiraré and serves as the repertoire and standards chair of student and youth activities for the North Dakota American Choral Director Association.
Santa Barbara Music Publishing has distributed several of Miller’s compositions, including “If Music Be the Food of Love,” “I Carry Your Heart with Me” and “Seeds.” Hope Music Publishing distributed his piece titled “Alleluia.”
Elizabeth Lim, New York, is a graduate of Harvard University and is pursuing a doctoral degree at the Juilliard School of Music. Her compositions have been performed throughout the world and she was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts while at Harvard. Lim submitted her piece, titled “The Lark,” for the competition.
The NDSU School of Music honors the legacy and traditions of noted choral composer and long-time NDSU choral conductor Edwin Fissinger with its annual choral composition competition. Established in 2010, the competition allows composers the opportunity to have new choral pieces performed and published.
The NDSU School of Music, noted choral composer Dale Warland and Pavane Publishing sponsor the Edwin Fissinger Choral Competition. More information can be found at www.ndsu.edu/finearts/music/fissinger.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation’s top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.