Forward Performing Arts and the Madison Scouts are pleased to welcome Dr. Ward Miller as Director of Recruitment and Music Education Consultant for its programs.

“We are honored to have Dr. Miller join our team,” stated Forward Performing Arts Programs Director Dann Petersen. “His incredible experience as a music educator as well as his unique capability to connect with students is an ideal match for our programs.”

Miller earned his bachelor’s of music education from Auburn University in 2001 and graduated from Arizona State University in 2003 with a masters in Trombone Performance. He taught public school in Alabama for three years, serving as Director of Bands at Andalusia High School and at Pleasant Grove High School. In 2006 he accepted a graduate teaching assistantship at The University of Iowa and in 2011 earned his D.M.A. in Band Conducting.

From 2008 through 2013, Dr. Miller was the Associate Director of Bands and Director of Athletic Bands at the University of South Alabama. While there, he founded the 230-member Jaguar Marching Band, overseeing all recruiting, teaching, and writing. His teaching duties included Marching Band Techniques, Brass Methods, Trombone Quartet, Symphony Band, and undergraduate conducting.

“We are excited to have Dr. Miller influence and shape the Madison Scouts brass program,” said Forward Performing Arts CEO Chris Komnick. “The positive impact he has made on students is stellar and we want to provide those types of educational experiences for those participating in the Madison Scouts.”

Miller has served as the Musical Arranger, Drill Writer, and Assistant Director of the Macy’s Great American Marching Band in New York City since 2006. He was the director of the All-Star Band at the 100th annual Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, D.C. He has also served as an adjudicator at marching and concert band assessment in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, and New York.

From 2014 through 2019, Dr. Miller served as the Brass Caption Head for the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps where he oversaw the brass ensemble and staff, recruited for the horn line, and administered the Blue Stars brass audition camps throughout the country. In addition, he has also served as the Brass Arranger and an instructional consultant for Minnesota Brass, a distinguished and storied all-age drum and bugle corps based in Minneapolis, MN. Miller holds memberships in Pi Kappa Lambda national honorary music society, and Golden Key national honorary society. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN where he spends his time arranging and composing, and working as a music education consultant clinicing and judging bands.