The Metropolitan Opera Guild has today elected attorney Richard J. Miller, Jr. as its new President. Mr. Miller joined the board of the Guild in 2005 and has been Treasurer for the last two years. He replaces Susan S. Braddock, who served for eleven years as the tenth president of the Guild.
In addition to his work as an attorney and as a volunteer and officer with various legal, arts and civic organizations,
Mr. Miller is an accomplished tenor who has performed with professional and amateur companies and international festivals. A detailed bio for
Mr. Miller follows below.
Mr. Miller commented: "It is, indeed, an honor to serve the Guild as its eleventh president, and to embrace the vision of our board as we move forward to carry out the mission Mrs. Belmont established 75 years ago and support and enhance our relationship with the Metropolitan Opera. My passion for opera has been forged through roles as an artist and as an arts leader and tempered by positions as a businessman and attorney. I hope that my energy, experience and expertise will provide me with all of the right elements to carry out our mission and embrace our challenges and opportunities."
Winthrop Rutherfurd, Jr., the Chairman of the Board of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, stated: "Rich Miller has served on the Guild's board with great distinction for the past five years, and all of us on the board are delighted that he has been elected as our new President. Susan Braddock was an extraordinary leader for the organization, and Rich is uniquely qualified to succeed her, and to help us go forward into the future."
About Richard
J. Miller, Jr.
Richard
J. Miller, Jr. (born in Albany, New York on June 3, 1964) is a member of the New York law firm of Morris & McVeigh LLP, one of the oldest law firms in New York state.
Mr. Miller's practice is in tax, estate and trust planning and administration and the representation of cultural institutions. His practice encompasses all matters of sophisticated wealth transfer tax planning and administration for individuals, families and organizations.
Mr. Miller graduated from Williams College (B.A., with honors, 1986), Albany Law School of Union University (J.D., cum laude, 1989) and the New York University School of Law (L.L.M. Taxation, 1993). From 1989 through 1993,
Mr. Miller was associated with the Wall Street law firm of Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood, and thereafter he became a principal shareholder in the law firm of McNamee, Lochner, Titus & Williams, P.C.
Mr. Miller has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Albany Law School. He is a member of numerous bar associations and vommittees, including the Surrogate's Court Advisory Committee and the Judicial Screening Committee for the Third Department. He is admitted to practice in New York, Florida, Colorado, Connecticut and the District of Columbia, and was recently named in Best Lawyers (2010).
Mr. Miller was appointed Chairman of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Corporation ("The Egg") by Governor Pataki in 1998 and is a former Commissioner of the New York State Canal Recreationway Commission. In addition to his position as President of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, the eleventh in the organization's history, he also serves on numerous other volunteer boards and organizations, including the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, Inc., the American Associates of the Royal Academy Trust and the Emma Willard School. He has also served on the boards of Glimmerglass Opera and the Lake George Opera Festival.
In addition,
Mr. Miller is a trained tenor, studying with the likes of Metropolitan Opera tenor
John Alexander,
Earl Wrightson and
Robert White. He has performed in many of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan and
Victor Herbert, with professional and amateur companies, international festivals, and college organizations, and has been characterized as having "a voice of considerable power and sweetness, an oboe rather than a violin." In 2003,
Mr. Miller was designated "Best Male Voice" at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England for his performance as Captain Fitzbattleaxe in Utopia Limited.
Mr. Miller is married to Carol Rifenburg Miller and they have two children. They reside in Loudonville, New York and in New York City.
About the Metropolitan Opera Guild
About to celebrate its 75th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera Guild today is stronger and more active than ever in pursuing its mission to encourage the appreciation of opera generally, and to support the Metropolitan Opera financially through membership dues. The Guild provides programs and services in many areas designed to further these goals.
The Guild's Education Department provides an innovative network of music and arts education programs to more than 1,800 schools and communities worldwide. These programs include rehearsals and performances at the Metropolitan Opera, family education programs to introduce children to opera, an adult lecture series, school residency programs, professional development courses for teachers, web site development (www.operaed.org), and collaborations with colleges and universities throughout the country.
Opera News, the monthly magazine published by the Guild, reports on opera around the world. Each issue includes reviews of commercial recordings and live performances, profiles of artists, and articles by eminent writers on the music scene. During the Saturday afternoon broadcast season, the magazine also includes an in-depth guide to these broadcasts from the Met. With a circulation of 105,000, it is the world's largest circulation magazine devoted to opera. Opera News also maintains an active web site, Opera News Online, at www.operanews.com.
The Guild produces an annual series of public programs in major New York City venues both to raise funds for its education programs and to celebrate the art and artists of opera. Foremost among these are the Opera News Awards, at which five honorees are chosen by the editors of Opera News and recognized for their distinguished achievement in opera. (The Opera News Awards are the highest honor bestowed in the opera world.) The Guild's Annual Luncheon, Met Legends and Met Mastersinger events also honor the great figures of opera and are attended by thousands of music fans each season.
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