Faculty List

Tess Miller, DMA, is a freelance performer, flute instructor, adjudicator, and clinician from the mid-Michigan area. She has performed in Master Classes for many prominent flutists, including Linda Chesis, Bonita Boyd, Carol Wincenc, Jim Walker, Sebastian Bell, and Timothy Hutchins.

In 2004, Dr. Miller received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University where she studied with Richard Sherman. Her dissertation dealt with the causes of music performance anxiety and how musicians can improve or enhance their performance skills through journal writing. She has been invited to present her ideas at various colleges and conferences throughout the country including the College Music Society Great Lakes Chapter Conference, the Central Michigan University Flute Day, the University of Southern Mississippi Flute Day, and the Michigan State University Flute Weekend among other colleges and universities.

Dr. Miller is an avid chamber musician. As a member of the Red Cedar Wind Trio, she performed as a semi-finalist at the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. Her quartet, the Great Lakes Art Music Ensemble, released a CD on the White Pine Record Label. This disc, The Latin Dance Project, consists of newly composed and arranged music for two flutes, guitar, and percussion. GLAM has been invited to perform on the MAJIC Chamber Music Series in Grand Rapids, MI as well as at the 2008 National Flute Association Convention in Kansas City, MO. Dr. Miller is also a member of the Miller/Harding Duo (flute and percussion), the London Trio (2 flutes and a cello), and Extreme Duality (flute and double bass). In the summers, Dr. Miller has performed for the Mackinac Island Community Foundation Summer Concert Series for which she was Co-Artistic Director. She has also taught at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Interlochen Arts Camp. Most recently, Dr. Miller worked as Managing Director of the Mackinac Island Flute Festival which celebrated its inaugural year in the summer of 2011.

In addition to chamber music performance, Dr. Miller is also a distinguished orchestral musician. She currently plays second flute with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra and is an active freelance performer with the Lansing, Jackson, Midland, and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras. Miller has performed as a featured soloist with the MSU Philharmonic Orchestra, the MSU Symphony Band, the Meridean Concert Band, the Albion College Orchestra, the Alma College Orchestra, and the Mott Community College Band.

Dr. Miller is the adjunct flute instructor at Albion and Alma Colleges and maintains an active private studio. She lives in St. Johns, MI with composer husband Scott R. Harding and daughter Roslyn.

Enhancing music performance and dealing with music performance anxiety through journal writing.

What do people do? Why do they do what they do? Though Brandi Stupica, assistant professor of psychology, doesn’t claim to hold all the answers, she has still dedicated her life to figuring people out.

“I went into college thinking pre-med and quickly switched to English, all while taking psychology classes and really liking them,” she says. “Even when I declared my psychology major, I thought it was just a back-up! I finally realized all my behaviors were indicating that psychology was the thing I was really interested in.”