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Artist Biography |
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Lisa A. Miles is a professional creative artist--musician and writer--based in Pittsburgh, Pa. She received a B. A. in English from Youngstown State University, where she also had an Applied Music minor. Lisa has recently been recognized by Cambridge University’s Who’s Who as a leader in the Creative Arts, and as an independent scholar she just published (November 2007) her second book, Resurrecting Allegheny City: The Land, Structures & People of Pittsburgh’s North Side. It is a 300-page work that was sponsored by a substantial grant from the PA Historical & Museum Commission and the Buhl Foundation, and is a regional Best-Seller. In 2008, Lisa is supporting her latest book with readings, discussions and educational / community programming. As a teaching artist as well, she will be the keynote speaker at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Faculty Professional Development this Spring, discussing the creative process and education. Lisa’s 460-page biography/cultural essay This Fantastic Struggle: The Life and Art of Esther Phillips was published at the end of 2002 (Creative Arts, Berkeley). She received grants for a portion of this work from The Pittsburgh Foundation and the PA Council on the Arts. The book’s success in the Western Pennsylvania region was supported through extensive speaking engagements at artist and historical organizations and even a major engagement at a mental health conference in Harrisburg , PA. Lisa’s main work has been as violinist and conceptual artist who writes original music, collaborating with film, theatre, visual and movement artists. She’s been awarded grants from: Meet The Composer, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Heinz Endowments and one of the first PA Arts & Humanities Initiative grants for performances of a cross-disciplinary collaborative piece that she directed and produced. Entitled Presence, it incorporated glass art, slide projection, movement, her music, and collaboration with the Pittsburgh. Jung Society and Duquesne University psychology department, and is about the search for authentic sense of self. In 2005 Lisa organized & coordinated artists for a Northside Artist Community Day at the Hazlett Theatre and has written features on the North Shore development for The Northside Chronicle. She is currently preparing to rework Folie a Deux, with stand-up bass, for live performance in 2006 with choreographer Doug Bentz--originally commissioned by Point Park College in 1999. In 2004, she curated a posthumous show of a Pittsburgh painter’s work, and in 2003, she scored a short film, Metamorphosis. As well, she began work on another film composition, music for a Point Park College dance performance, a music performance set for a visual/media installation, and guided a young improvisation student to compose for film. In 2001, Lisa scored “Arthur’s Family,” a 30-minute film currently seeking resources for full-length feature development; also that year she premiered new material and performed live for a sculptural-movement work by Cheryl Cappezzuti & Laurie Tarter, Beneath The Light. Lisa has accompanied at Pittsburgh’s Dance Alloy for over seven years. She has also done improvisational workshops with choreographers Mark Taylor and (through the Pittsburgh Dance Council) Jose Bustamante, David Parsons and HT Chen. Major solo performance work of Lisa’s (composed for acoustic & electric violin and mandolin) premiered in ‘98. Her music, at times driving, chordal, overdriven, dissonant, rhythmic and spacious, is oft intricately woven with multi-recorded tracks, including original text, and site-specific improvisation and movement in performance. |
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Lisa has played professionally with numerous regional symphonies since 1985, including the Youngstown, Westmoreland, Butler County and McKeesport Symphonies, as well as having played with the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic at New York's Carnegie Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall and Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has performed within the Pittsburgh independent art and music scene since ‘88, working with local bands and, with cellist, the mutual collaboration in ‘90 with national performance artist Animal X at Chatham College ’s Eddy Theatre. In ‘94 she jointly scored a stage adaptation of the silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, garnering excellent reviews.
Lisa’s compositions for violin and cello were self-released in the winter of ‘97. In 2005, she played in a band called Jack on Fire, was a member of a long-standing Pittsburgh folk/punk band, and guests live and in the studio with numerous other bands and for commercial studio work.
Now I See Myself/The Statue of Mirrors was a ‘97 collaboration between Lisa and dancer Laura Brungard. She composed the music for and was a physical presence in this performance piece, commissioned by the Pittsburgh Dance Council’s Choreographer’s Continuum and premiered at the Byham Theatre. The work was transformed with video and sculpture by Brett Day and performed again at Carnegie Mellon University ’s Hewlett Gallery. A ‘95 collaboration with Brungard had Lisa writing music for the performance film Bowl Dance, which has been spotlighted at a Boston video festival, an Argentine film festival and a Toronto moving pictures festival. In ‘97, Lisa also had prose and poetry published in Unsilenced: The Spirit of Women.
In 1991, Lisa consulted on business development, marketing and promotion for Gallery in the Square, where she developed and extended the customer base through corporate and community contacts. She also represented the work of local artists, and organized a show of work by artists with mental illness, coordinating with area art therapists.
Lisa has performed at First Night Pittsburgh, and there presented young instrumentalists that she was commissioned to work with on improvisation & composition. As a Teaching Artist, she has presented professional development workshops through the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit, Midwestern PA IV IU & Shady Lane Resources, and has been involved with many Ready for Life/Heinz Endowments Early Literacy grants. She was a resident artist at Carnegie Mellon University ’s Reggio Emilia daycare program, and has taught extensively independently and through various art centers--holding Music Creativity workshops that incorporate a cross-disciplinary arts approach.
In addition to her creative work, Lisa coordinated payroll for a union masonry contractor, and previously has worked in counseling & vocational development at a community mental health agency.
| All music, text, graphics, images and video on this web site are the copyright-protected property of Lisa A. Miles and/or the creative collaborators, as noted throughout web site and on image credits page. All rights reserved, all material. Copyrighted material can not be duplicated without consent. |
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