Roger L. Miller: Mormon Musician

Roger L. Miller is a musician and professor emeritus of musicology. Born in 1937, he grew up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in a musical family. He earned his bachelor’s degree in music education and his master’s in music theory from Brigham Young University. He earned his doctorate in musicology at Case Western Reserve University.

In 1982, he was appointed a visiting assistant professor at the University of Utah. He enjoyed a twenty-five year tenure at the university, retiring as full professor. He worked with former department chair Edgar J. Thompson in the planning and construction of the Libby Gardner Concert Hall as well as the renovation of the David P. Gardner Hall into a world-class teaching environment. He also directed the selection of and planning for the Lively-Fulcher pipe organ that graces the Libby Gardner Concert Hall. He helped assemble the collection of research and study materials for Emma Ray Riggs McKay Music Library. He was honored with the 2012 Camerata Award.

Miller serves on the Utah Chamber Artists and Heritage Music Series boards and writing critical commentaries on the lives and contributions of a number of Utah composers and musicians.

He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He wrote the music for “Know This, that Ev’ry Soul Is Free” for the 1985 Hymnbook. He is a past member of the General Music Committee of the Church of Jesus Christ. From 1985 to 2010, he wrote the broadcast continuity for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's weekly program, Music and the Spoken Word.