MICHELLE MILLIER

A Lodi native, Michelle Millier is excited to teach Violin, Viola, and Voice at Sayla Music Academy. Growing up Michelle was an active performer with orchestras, choirs, dance, and musical theatre in school and in the community. During her High School years, she studied violin with Vasi Klinker and played in Central Valley Youth Symphony (currently Pacific Youth Symphony). 

Michelle graduated with an Associate of Arts in Music and Associate of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies: Arts and Humanities at San Joaquin Delta College in 2013. She studied Violin with Griena “Goody” Choi-Trask and was a member of String Ensemble, Concert Choir, and Delta Singers. While a member of Delta Singers, under the direction of Germán Aguilar, she performed in many adjudicated choral festivals, including USC Thornton School of Music’s Community College Choral Festival. 

In 2016, Michelle earned her Bachelor's of Music in Music Education and Single Subject teaching credential in Music from University of the Pacific, where she studied violin with Dr. Ann Miller and choral conducting with Dr. Edward Cetto. While at UOP, she was a member of the UOP Symphony Orchestra, where she worked with many conductors, such as Dr. Nicholas Waldvogel, Jung-Ho Pak, and Peter Jaffe. While a student, the orchestra also performed at one of Composer Inc's New Works concerts in Berkeley, CA in 2015. 

An avid choral singer, she has performed with the Stockton Chorale (Dr. Bruce Southard), University Chorus at University of the Pacific (Dr. Edward Cetto), and the Zion Pops (Paul Kimball). While a student at UOP and SJDC, she sang with the Stockton Symphony in the symphony chorus for Verdi's Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, and in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony as a member of the Stockton Chorale. Michelle is also active in local community theatre. She has performed in Godspell, South Pacific, and Les Misérables at Lodi Musical Theater. She also directed the Children's Choir for LMT's 2017 production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Passionate about Music Education in public schools, Michelle teaches String Orchestra, Choir, and Band for Lodi Unified School District where she has taught since 2016. She has maintained a private violin and voice studio since 2014. Currently, she performs violin with local orchestras, such as Valley Community Orchestra, Stockton Soul, and Joshua Washington's JoDavi Orchestra and plays viola with Sayla’s Community Orchestra. She has also studied violin with Koko Watanabe and voice with Nicole Howton, Alison Bieber, and Chelsea Feltman. She holds memberships with National Association for Music Educators, American Choral Director's Association, and American String Teacher's Association.