Associate professor and coordinator of music education Kelly A. Miller was named the Florida Music Education Association’s 2022 College Music Educator of the Year. FMEA is a not-for-profit professional education association that serves and supports music education across the state.
“I am truly grateful and honored to be the recipient of such a prestigious award,” says Miller. “I love what I do and am proud to represent UCF.”
Miller was previously honored by UCF Faculty Excellence for Women’s History Month. Her nominator described her as a “one-woman force of nature” and commended her work building the Bachelor of Music in Education program, which has a nearly-100 percent placement rate thanks to her coordination with educators throughout the state.
Miller serves as director of the TeBa (Tenor/Bass), SoAl (Soprano/Alto) Choruses, having founded the latter. The SoAl Chorus consists of more than 80 members from all areas of the university, many of whom are not music majors. Miller guides the performers through the gestures and conducting required to perform challenging pieces, such as The Planets by Gustav Holst. Last fall, Miller helped spearhead the new UCF Community Choir.
“We hope that with a campus with a student population as large, more people will hear about the choir and the wonderful things we’re doing and want to be a part of it,” says Miller. “And realize they don’t need to be a music major to be a part of these incredible experiences.”
Miller will be honored alongside the other 2022 awardees at the FMEA Professional Development Conference taking place January 12–15 in Tampa.