The UMBC Jazz Ensemble is joined in concert by New York City-based drummer/composer/teacher Allison Miller, who engages her deep roots in improvisation as a vehicle to explore all music. Described by critics as a charismatic and rhythmically propulsive drummer with melodic sensibility, Miller has been named “Top 20 Jazz Drummers” in Downbeat Magazine and her composition, Otis Was a Polar Bear, is on NPR’s list of The 200 Greatest Songs by 21st Century Women. Miller is Monterey Jazz Festival’s 2019 Artist in Residence, alongside Derrick Hodge.

Miller is a three time Jazz Ambassador for the U.S. State Department and has been appointed Arts Envoy to Thailand for her work with Jazz Education Abroad. She is on Yamaha’s Top 30 Clinicians List, conducting clinics and master classes throughout the world, and teaches at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in NYC, Stanford Jazz Workshop, and is the Artistic Director of Jazz Camp West. Her lessons and writings have been published in The Huffington Post, Modern Drummer, Jazz Times, DRUM, Tom Tom, and Drummer UK. Her instructional videos are produced and published by Reverb.

$15 general admission, $10 seniors, $5 students, free for UMBC music majors and music faculty/staff, available online or at the box office one hour prior to the performance.