Caroline Louise Miller (they/them) is a US composer based in Portland, Oregon. Common themes in their work include affect, ecology, labor politics, tactility, and the materiality of media, often within dreamlike musical spaces that thread field recordings, shimmering textures, and romantic melodic lines through harsh noise and clattering dissonances. They have enjoyed wide-ranging collaborations and have been supported by numerous grants, fellowships, and commissions. These have included support from Seattle Modern Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound/Matt Marks Impact Fund, Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, SPLICE Ensemble, Ensemble Adapter, Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, Transient Canvas, and others. Their music is performed nationally and internationally.
Miller has collaborated with writers, artists, filmmakers, oceanographers, limnologists, and others. In 2014, Miller worked as an artist-in-residence aboard a Scripps Institution of Oceanography research vessel in the Philippine Sea, sailing from Kaohsiung, Taiwan to Koror, Palau. Field recordings from the ship were used to compose the score for a feature-length experimental documentary by Lyndsay Bloom about daily life aboard the ship. Their multimedia installation Here There: (Re)collecting Labor on the American Railway, co-created with artist Stefani Byrd and featuring a score recorded with Alarm Will Sound, incorporates field recordings and video footage taken on an expedition to endangered historic sites in Northern California, and has been exhibited internationally. From 2012-2017, Miller organized and curated an annual new music and cross-disciplinary collaborative showcase at the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla. At Portland State, Miller co-organizes ReWire Festival, an annual spring showcase of work involving collaborations between SAMP, Theater, and other disciplines.
Miller is currently Assistant Professor of Sonic Arts at Portland State University, where they teach courses including electronic music composition, songwriting, studio production, and music for visual media. Their songwriting class is designed as an inclusive, student-led workshop culminating in an annual multi-genre showcase of songs (which sells out every year!) They a hold a Ph.D in Music from UC San Diego. In their spare time, they enjoy learning about zoology and sonic behaviors of animals and ecosystems.
NEWS & FEATURED WORK
Red Sprite Lightning - Acousmatic Fixed Media
@Planeta Complejo Exhibition, Mexico City
Mar-May 2026
Phobiaphages for dueling violins and 8.1 surround electronics, performance by Keiko Araki and Emily Cole, Fear No Music, April 2025
Here There: (Re)Collecting Labor
on the American Railway, installation trailer.
Collaborative 3-channel video installation with cinematic sound, audio interviews with Dr. Gordon Chang (Historian and Professor of Humanities at Stanford) and Dan Stone (retired railroad engineer). Video by Stefani Byrd, score recorded with Alarm Will Sound, seed money from the Matt Marks Impact Fund.
EVENTS
COMING UP
June 18-21, 2026
Deep Water
Boiler Room Theater
Portland State University
Portland, Oregon
April 15, 2026, 12pm
Deep Water preview
on Rising Tides
The Old Church Concert Hall
Portland, Oregon
March 20-May 10, 2026
Red Sprite Lightning
Planeta Complejo Exhibition 2026
Centro de Cultura Digital
Mexico City
January 29-31, 2026
Red Sprite Lightning
North American Sonic Arts Collective
Twin Cities Loudspeaker Orchestra
The Southern Theater
Minneapolis, MN
January 16, 2026
Deep Water preview
New Wave Opera presents: Currents of Change
Music @ Midday
Portland State University
PAST
Oct 18, 2025, 8pm
World Premiere of Heat Islands
Among The Trees: Sonic Ecology in the Anthropocene
Seattle Modern Orchestra
Chapel Performance Space
Seattle, WA
Sept 10-28, 2025
Here There: (Re)Collecting Labor on the American Railway
International Symposium and Exhibition for Visual Culture 2025
Czong Institute for Contemporary Art
South Korea
August 16, 2025
"Cliffs" from Clapping-game songbook
New Wave Opera, HerStory
ShowBar@Revolution Hall
Portland, OR
May 1– 2, 2025
Featured artist
with Alexandria Smith
Soundbox8: DRIP
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR
April 25, 2025, 7:30pm
Phobiaphages
Fear No Music presents
Grounded: an Evening of Electroacoustic Music
Elliot Chapel, Reed College
Portland, OR
March 23, 2025, 8:30pm
Jungles III
113 and Fonema Consort present
Approximations
Frequency Series @ Constellation
Chicago, IL
March 23, 2025, 11:30am
Oxyluciferin
with Alexandria Smith
SEAMUS
Purdue University
March 22-24, 2025
Red Sprite Lightning
SEAMUS
Fixed Media Listening Room
Purdue University
March 21, 2025, 7pm
Oxyluciferin
with Alexandria Smith
Moxsonic Festival
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO
March 6, 2025, 12pm
Dreamspace
Solo Faculty Recital
Noon Concert
Lincoln Hall
Portland, OR
October 12, 2024
Fortifying Echoes
with Li Kuang, trombone
CWU New Music Festival
Ellensburg, Washington
October 3-5, 2024
Here There (3-channel film version)
Re:karya International Video Festival
Telkom University
Bandung, West Java, Indonesia
August 22, 2024
Artist Talk
Here There: (Re)Collecting Labor on the American Railway
Cultural Arts Building Gallery
University of North Carolina Wilmington
July 11, 2024
The Front Line
Portland Jobs with Justice
Annual Summer Fundraiser with PJCE
Norse Hall
Portland, Or
May 23-August 29, 2024
Here There: (Re)Collecting Labor on the American Railway
Cultural Arts Building Gallery
University of North Carolina Wilmington
June 24, 2024
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Splice Institute
Western Michigan University
May 26-June 1, 2024
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Alba Music Festival
Alba, Italy
April 17, 2024, 7pm
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Hartt University
Hartford, CT
March 14, 2024, 12pm
Fortifying Echoes
With Li Kuang, Trombone
Portland State University
Noon Concerts
February 23, 2024, 7:30pm
Roseville
SEAMUS Conference
"Cinema SEAMUS", UVA
Charlottesville, Virginia
February 19, 2024, 7:30pm
The Front Line
"The Union Makes us Strong:
Amplifying Workers' voices with New Jazz"
Portland Jazz Composer's Ensemble
The Hallowed Halls
Portland, Oregon
Feb. 15, 2024, 7:30pm
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Miami University
Oxford, OH
Feb. 2, 2024, 7:30pm
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Jan. 27, 2024, 7pm
Jungles III
113 Composers Collective
Studio Z
Minneapolis, MN
Jan. 19, 2024, 7:30pm
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
First Parish in Brookline
Brookline, MA
Dec. 29, 2023
Lucky Skies
Sunny Chou, Euphonium
Dreamphony Hall
Xinbei City, Taiwan
Dec. 23, 2023
Lucky Skies
Sunny Chou, Euphonium
He Sen Music Hall
Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
Dec. 22, 2023
Lucky Skies
Sunny Chou, Euphonium
Multi Music
Taichung City, Taiwan
Dec. 7, 2023-Jan 20, 2024
Donner Tunnels
3 channel video w stereo sound, segment of Here There
Stove Works
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Nov. 9, 2023, 7:30pm
Vessel
T.J. Borden, Cello
ASM Presents Ghost Ensemble
The Invisible Dog Art Center
Brooklyn, NY
Nov. 4, 2023, 11am
Divum Ficta
Liveset at SPLICE Festival V
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA
Nov. 3, 2023, 2pm
"Designing 'Songwriting' as an inclusive, student-led course"
Talk @ SPLICE Festival V
Berklee College of Music
Boston, MA
Oct. 26, 2023, 3pm
Antiphony
Keith Kirchoff, piano
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT
Oct. 13-15, 2023
Red Sprite Lightning
live electronics with George Colligan, piano
EDME New Music Festival
Eugene, Oregon
Oct. 3, 2023
Red Sprite Lightning (fixed media)
MUSLAB International Electroacoustic Music Festival
Museo Antropológico y de Arte Contemporáneo
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Sept. 19, 2023
Vessel
T.J. Borden, cello
Wheaton College Conservatory of Music
Wheaton, Illinois
June 23rd, 2023, 11:15am
"Designing 'Songwriting' as an inclusive, student-led course"
Talk @ New Music Gathering
Portland State University
Portland, OR,
April 23rd, 2023, 4:00
[new piece]
Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble
Composers Cookoff | A Fundraiser for PJCE
The 1905
Portland, OR
April 11th, 2023, 7:30pm
territories, refrains
for flutes, clarinet, harp, percussion, and light
Ossia New Music, Hatch Hall
Eastman School of Music
Rochester, NY
April 1st, 2023, 4:00pm
Subsong
UNK New Music Festival
Kearney, Nebraska
March 6, 2023, 8:00pm
Impressions of the sky from underwater
Transient Canvas
University of North Texas
Denton, TX
February 21, 2023, 7:00pm
Ansible
SPLICE Ensemble
Outpost Concert Series
UC Riverside
Riverside, California
January 12, 2023, 12:00pm
Superlunary
With George Colligan, Piano and Melodica
Portland State University
Portland, OR
November 12, 2022, 7:30pm
Impressions of the sky from underwater
Transient Canvas
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA
October 14, 2022, 6pm
Impressions of the sky from underwater
Transient Canvas
The Dancz center for New Music @ University of Georgia
Athens, GA
September 25th, 2022
Impressions of the sky from underwater
Transient Canvas
Boston Conservatory@Berklee
Boston, MA
June 19th, 2022
Hydra Nightingale with Kyle Motl
Infrequent Seams Streamfest
May 27th, 2022
Lucky Skies premiere
by Jesse Orth, Tuba
Denton, TX
May 14th, 2022
Impressions of the Sky from Underwater
Transient Canvas@Boston Conservatory
April 23, 2022
Jungles:Remix
College Music Society NW conference
Portland, OR
December 4th, 2021
The Witness and Roseville
With collaborators Lee Dunn and Stefani Byrd
part of _OpenLab
Sonic Matter Festival
Zurich Switzerland
December 1st, 2021
The Witness
with filmmaker Lee Dunn
SAMP Laptop Ensemble Concert
Portland State University
November 20th, 2021
Witnessing the West Coast
Sonic Matter Radio Feature
with Fabiano Kueva
October 16th, 2021
Ansible
SPLICE Ensemble @ Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
October 14th, 2021
Divum Ficta
Live-set @ Portland State University
Portland, Oregon
October 1st, 2021
Jungles: Remix
EEMS: Blackout Series @ UT Austin
Austin, Texas
