After a remarkable 19-year tenure, Joe Miller, the esteemed Director of Choral Activities at Spoleto Festival USA, will conclude his role in June 2025. Miller has accepted a new position to become Music Director at Vocal Arts Ensemble Cincinnati, Greater Cincinnati’s premier professional vocal ensemble. The 49th Spoleto Festival USA will celebrate Miller’s legacy with a series of special programs, details of which will be announced with the full season in early 2025.
“Joe Miller’s impact has been immeasurable,” says Mena Mark Hanna, General Director and CEO of Spoleto Festival USA. “Through remarkable talent, creativity, and determination, he has created world-class choral music at Spoleto. He has been a vital force for choral music in America and an extraordinary friend to our Festival. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and look forward to celebrating his legacy at the 2025 Festival. He will always be part of the Spoleto family.”
During his tenure, Miller significantly advanced the Festival’s choral program, first with Westminster Choir College and then by initiating the highly competitive Choral Fellowship program, attracting early-career professional choristers through a national audition tour to sing each year as the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus. Miller has been instrumental in preparing numerous world premiere works and opera productions, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Omar (2022) and Ruinous Gods (2024). He has consistently presented beloved annual choral programs, which take place in Charleston’s historic churches and concert halls. He conducted the first fully staged production of John Adams’s El Niño at Festival Hall, the Festival’s first performance of a Bach Passion, and the first fully staged production of Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles at the Charleston Gaillard Center. Through these and many more initiatives, Miller has trained countless choristers, many of whom have gone on to successful careers on international stages.
Miller succeeded his mentor, Dr. Joseph Flummerfelt, the Festival’s founding choral conductor, in 2011 and has continued to elevate the choral program to new heights. Choral music will remain a cornerstone of the Festival, building on the legacies and tenures of Miller and Flummerfelt.