CAMD Professor Dennis Miller, Music Department, will be embarking on his fifth trip to Africa this spring semester as part of his upcoming sabbatical. He will be in residence at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, for the month of April 2017, where he will share his research on Visual Music and coordinate with local groups to put together a concert program that will be performed at Northeastern next fall.

While at UCT, Professor Miller will host a series of lectures, workshops, and lessons, four of which will be for the UCT’s Music Department. During these lectures, Miller will speak about his visual and multimedia work, offering a general overview, historical perspective, and with certain audiences, details about the software used to make his creations. He will also be presenting a concert of his Visual Music works, which combine his own original music and animation.

“I am especially excited to be going to South Africa because a lot of the country’s music is culturally based; it has an incredibly rich music scene,” explained Professor Miller. “The country is very culturally diverse and there is a range of art work happening all the time, as well as several music festivals. It is a vibrant and curious community.”

Professor Miller’s specialization is mixed media, also referred to as “Visual Music.” He has both a music and visual arts background – and his talent is combining the two. He brings a historical perspective, paired with his own practice in the music field, to all of his work (some examples can be accessed here).

When asked about his creative process, Professor Miller admits it varies from composition to composition. “Whether the music or images are created first changes with every piece I create,” he said. “Typically, it is easier to compose the entire track of music first, but the process truly does vary with each arrangement.”

Professor Miller’s visual and multimedia work continues to receive screenings at festivals around the world. His variations (in black and white) was recently selected as an entry in the International Competition of the Punto y Raya Festival, which was held from October 20-23 in Karlsruhe, Germany. Miller’s work was also selected for a virtual festival called the Grand IndieWise Convention, billed as the world’s largest virtual film festival; the 2^nd Animation Marathon this fall in Greece; and the 8th edition of MADATAC, an international film festival that will take place at Centro Conde Duque, Madrid in January.

Closer to home, Professor Miller has been invited to participate in an exhibition called Mathematics and Art: Searching for Pattern, at Suffolk University in Boston. The exhibit, which will be produced in conjunction with the Boston Cyberarts Festival will be held from December 1 to January 22.