Savannah Now - May 2009

Keith Miller: From the backfield to center stage

By Emily Goldman

Keith Miller's former and current careers have one thing in common. Tickets are required for each performance.

Miller, a professional football player turned opera singer, is in town this week as Savannah Children's Choir's 2009 Artist in Residence.

Miller was set to work not only with the community children's choir, but also with local school groups, helping them hone their skills and sharing his experiences from football to music.

"It is a chance to expose (the children) to someone making a career with opera repertoire," Cuffy Sullivan managing director of the Savannah Children's Choir said. "And help to expand their skills."

One of Miller's objectives, he said, is to break down stereotypes about the arts and to show the different sides of opera.

Sullivan said she hopes bringing Miller to Savannah will help catch the interest of the boys in the children's choir, especially middle school-age boys, a group that's hard to attract. She said sometimes they are drawn away by sports and sometimes by the peer pressure because of stereotypes against the arts.

"If I had John Elway or Dick Butkus sing and come to my school to show me (that opera) is not just running around in tights singing 'la la la,' I may have gotten on board earlier," Miller said.

After Miller's high school football team won three state titles, he became a starting fullback at the University of Colorado.

In his third year of college, he took a date to see "The Phantom of the Opera" and was smitten with the performance.

He said it evoked the same emotions in him as a high-intensity football game.

On his first trip to the campus music library, Miller - clad in his letter jacket - got some strange looks. His teammates didn't let his newfound love go unnoticed either, often teasing him. But Miller knew what he liked and stuck to it.

"(My teammates) liked their head-banger music and rap," Miller said. "Not my cup of tea. I used to listen to the 'Queen of the Night' aria before games."

After spending five years on the a reserve roster in the National Football League, Miller decided to pursue music full time.

Miller graduated from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia in May 2006 and made his professional debut in "Madame Butterfly" in September 2006.

His professional career has included roles with many companies including the New York Metropolitan Opera.

Miller will finish his week in Savannah today with a 7 p.m. performance at the Lucas Theater. The concert is free and the public is invited - no ticket necessary.