Music industry veteran and trombonist Michael Millar has been appointed interim director of the Entrepreneurship Center for Music in the University of Colorado at Boulder's College of Music.
An alumnus of the college and veteran of the music industry, Millar replaces outgoing Director Catherine Fitterman.
Millar has been a freelance trombonist in Los Angeles since receiving his bachelor's of music degree in performance from CU-Boulder in 1976. He has been active in performance, recording and education, and has played for numerous television commercials and on records and scores for film and television.
He has toured with Jerry Lewis, Ray Coniff and the late Harry James, and his credits include performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ray Charles, Artie Shaw, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and Kenny Rogers. Included in his doctoral program were studies in management and leadership with Peter F. Drucker and Jean Lipman-Blumen.
Millar has served on the CU-Denver faculty and also on the faculty of the 2001 International Trombone Festival in Nashville. He is active in a number of arts organizations and is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
"I'm excited to be returning to Boulder," said Millar. "The Entrepreneurship Center for Music presents a unique opportunity for university students to connect with the world of the music professional. This type of program is sorely needed in a rapidly changing field, and as an alumnus I'm thrilled that CU's College of Music and Dean Daniel Sher have demonstrated the vision and the flexibility required to make it happen."
Millar said the former director did "a fine job establishing the center" and said he is "looking forward to serving CU, its students and faculty, and the arts community through the Entrepreneurship Center."
The CU-Boulder College of Music opened the Entrepreneurship Center for Music in September 1998 with a grant from the Louis and Harold Price Foundation.
The center serves the college's 500 students as a bridge between academics and a professional career in music, sponsoring academic courses in the business of music entrepreneurship, providing information about basic business courses open to music students, hosting a guest lecture series of entrepreneurs in the arts, creating internships and mentoring opportunities, and counseling students individually about career options.