Michael J. Miles | Banjo, stage performances, streaming music and CDs by banjoist M

About Michael J. Miles

• Musician

• Composer

• Performing Artist

• Musical Playwright

• Educator

When Pete Seeger first heard Michael Miles, he sent a letter to Michael saying that "in all my 70 years this is among the most beautiful recordings I’ve ever heard...it is enough to make me want to learn the banjo all over again.”

Michael Miles is one of America’s most inventive clawhammer banjo players. Add guitar, vocals, jazz instruments, orchestras and complex historically-themed theatrical presentations to the mix and, two decades later, Michael has a critically acclaimed catalog of original compositions, stage performances, music CD’s and music instruction books.

Michael Miles performance credits include the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian Institution, Ravinia Festival, Harris Theatre in Chicago, American University in Beirut, and the Royal Opera Theatre in Marrakesh.

From 1984-1998, Michael served as the Program Director at the Old Town School of Folk Music bringing the school to international acclaim. Under his guidance the student population grew from 200 students to over 4000. From 2005-2007, Michael was honored as the school's first ever Artist-In-Residence. He remains as active member of the faculty teaching clawhammer banjo and fingerstyle guitar.

With an MA in Music Performance and Pedagogy, Michael is also a music educator whose work ranges from introducing kindergarten students to their earliest musical experiences to leading postgraduate study for professional musicians and music teachers.

Current projects include new fingerstyle guitar arrangements of the Great American Songbook and the works of Stevie Wonder; new compositions for the banjo and expanded ensemble; and new stage productions.

Lebanon

"We were inspired to present a concert here that involved your American banjo & guitar, Arabic oud, piano, Chinese pipa, and Arabic improvisational voice—a unique combination most likely unprecedented in Lebanon."
Dr. Marj Henningsen,
Founder & Director,
Wellspring Learning Community

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Above:  Abdelilah el Miry, Miles, Tony Dale, Samuel Kaplan (US Ambassador to Morocco) and Sylvia Kaplan.

MOROCCO "Miles believes in our local culture, respects it, lives it, not for a gig but for a spiritual interaction.  Our deepest gratitude to you."  - Abdelkrim Radaddi, US. State Dept

In 2008, Michael Miles led a concert tour through Morocco accompanied by Tony Dale on drums, and collaborating with Abdelilah el Miry on violin, Haj Younes on oud, the Houriyate women singers,  and a number of other Moroccan musicians.

The videos on this page outline the artistic collaboration, how Miles was taught by Moroccan musicians, and ultimately how the public in Morocco responded to his presence there.

Above:  Miles speaks in Marakesh about the impact of music in our communities.  US Ambassador to Morocco, Samuel Kaplan, is in the audience.

Above:  Miles collaborates with the Houriyate women singers.

Above:  Miles performs in Meknes for packed auditorium of Moroccan college students.

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Above:  Miles is taught how to play the tune, "Tabila" by Abdelilah el Miry

Above:  Miles performs Tabila later the same day as the lesson.

Above:  Miles is taught to play "BInt Shalabia" by Abdelilah el Miry and Nasser Houaria.

Above:  Miles performs Bint Shalabia with Haj Younes on oud, Abdelilah el Miry on violin, and Tony Dale on drums.

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</table>In 2011, Michael Miles travelled to Beirut, Lebanon. The Arab spring was engaging the whole world. With both Syria and Israel less than an hour away from Beirut, Miles proceeded to let his musical diplomacy move forward.

During the Arab Spring of 2011, Michael Miles travelled to Beirut to collaborate with school children in a concert about peace; to deliver a lecture to the American University of Beirut entitled “Seventy-Five Years of American Music (1900-1975);” and to present a collaborative concert at the university’s assembly hall entitled “Stringed Vibrations: The Banjo in Conversation with the Oud and Pipa.”

These events represented a collaboration with the American University of Beirut, the Wellspring Learning Academy in Beirut, and the Global Voices Initiative of which Miles serves as Music Director.

This is the 3rd of Miles’ musical diplomacy tours characterized by international music collaboration, free concerts, and outreach to school children and families. Miles states that, “if the world has any hope, it is on the shoulders of art and culture.” And as Elisabeth Millard, US Counsel General to Morocco, said that musicians like Michael Miles are among “the best ambassadors the United States can have.”

The videos on this page portray some of the artistic collaboration that took place. There were improvisational exchanges with both oud and traditional Arabic vocalese mejana.

"You established a wonderful rapport with the students immediately—you clearly have a gift for working with young people....Having the students see their music teachers as not only teachers, but also as creative musicians was an invaluable experience inspiring more interest in music than what normal school activity can do."
Dr. Marj Henningsen
Founder & Director
Wellspring Learning Community

Michael Miles plays "La Anta Habibi" on the banjo along with Lara Molaeb on piano & vocals, Xiao on Chinese pipa, and Ashraf el Chouli on oud.

Michael Miles talks about music as diplomacy and performs his banjo composition, "Chicago Trilogy."

Michael Miles performs his collaborative work, "We Will Build A New World," with fellow student and teacher composers.