Lola Miller

Lola Miller (they/them) is a vocalist, pianist, and composer. They perform and teach bi-coastlly as a bandleader, composer, and educator. With over 7 plus years as an music educator, Lola love’s working with students of all ages, helping them find their voice or develop it in new directions! As a composer, their work has been performed in venues ranging from the SFJAZZ Miner Auditorium to the Holywell Music room at Oxford. They are just as graceful writing for a jazz quintet as they are writing for a chamber orchestra. As an bandleader, they performs with their own quintet, a collaborative quintet, and an experimental voice and saxophone duo on a regular basis bi-coastally both on the east and west coast. As a vocalist, Lola’s dynamic presence and intimately expressive voice thrives painting a story through an American songbook tune just as much as it does gliding above a band on a modern wordless melody. They have shared the stage with countless luminaries in both the jazz and classical world such as Warren Wolf, Matt Wilson, Edward Simon, and David Sanchez as well as Philip Glass, the Kronos Quartet, and Gabriel Kahane. Their ability to thrive in complex musical environments has led them to premier new works in both the jazz world and in the modern opera world. During their time at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music earning a Bachelors of Music, they deepend their study of voice under Michael Mayo, Carmen Bradford, and Clairdee. Their composition mentor Anthony Wilson helped them continue to expand their writing, including a culminating song cycle for voice, chamber orchestra, and rhythm section for their senior recital. They were featured in the Jazz Education Networks annual Young Composer Showcase in January of 2021 for their piece Mind of Its Own and received a grant to record a full EP of the piece. Lola was selected as a mentee of composer Tomoko Omura for the Women in Jazz Organization’s class of 2024. After being awarded the Vashon Island Artist Residency in Seattle, they spent February 2025 composing a new work for septet, live triggered audio, and projections called HUSTLE.