West Virginia University music alumna Allison Miller, a jazz drummer from New York City who has performed and recorded with artists such as Natalie Merchant, Norah Jones and Michael Feinstein, will present a concert at the WVU Creative Arts Center Friday, Feb. 4.

The Allison Miller Band will present a program beginning at 8:15 p.m. in the Bloch Learning and Performance Hall (200A). The event is free and open to the public.

In addition, Miller will present a workshop at the Creative Arts Center for WVU music students on Friday afternoon. Millers visit to WVU is sponsored in part by the Robert E. Silver Visiting Artist Series.

Miller graduated from WVU in 1996 with a bachelors degree in music. She has been drumming for more than 20 years and has developed into a well-rounded, versatile musician, playing many styles of music. She has gone from playing with pop legend Natalie Merchant, to touring Eurasia as a U.S. State Department jazz ambassador presenting the music of Louis Armstrong, to touring Europe with avant-garde saxophonist Marty Ehrlich.

She recently celebrated her debut release as a bandleader,5am stroll,on Foxhaven Records, for which she composed seven of the eight tunes. This album features the masterful Ray Drummond on bass, Steve Wilson on alto saxophone and alto flute, Virginia Mayhew on tenor saxophone, and Bruce Barth on piano.

Miller was also involved in a project calledAgrazing Mazewith Shane Endsley on trumpet, Enrique Haneine on piano, Carlo DeRose on bass. Together these exciting, emerging musicians created, composed and improvised as a whole, creating unique compositions and a distinct band sound. Their album, Gerber Blender, was released on Foxhaven Records in Oct. 2004.

Miller is an active member in Marty EhrlichsNew Trio,The Natalie Merchant Band, John McNeils quintet and Kitty Margoliss backing trio.

A native of Texas and Maryland, Miller began playing drums at age 10 and studied with Walter Salb, the top teacher in the Washington, D.C., area. In 1991 she was featured in Downbeat magazinesUp and Comingfeature. Soon she began playing in clubs in Washington, D.C., and eventually continued her passion for music at WVU . After graduating summa cum laude, she moved to New York City to begin her career as a freelance drummer and to continue her studies with the great Michael Carvin.

In addition to the artists mentioned above, she has performed and recorded with Pino Daniele, Kenny Barron, Sheila Jordan, George Garzone, Toshi Reagon, Mike Stern, Rachel Z, Kevin Mahogany, Ingrid Jensen, Paul Bollenback, Barbara Dennerlein, Harvie S and the bandBetty.

She gives lessons and masterclasses at universities and high schools throughout the United States. She recently had one of her lessons published in DRUM magazine and was featured in Modern Drummer and Female Musician magazines.

RobertBoband Marsha Silver of Denver, N.C., established the first visiting artist endowment in the College of Creative Arts, designed to bring prominent artists to campus, preferably in the jazz idiom, to work with faculty and students and to conduct masterclasses, workshops and to give performances. Bob Silver is a graduate of the Division of Music with a bachelors and masters degree in music. He studied piano with Doc Miltenberger and composition with the late Thomas Canning. He is a member of the College of Creative Arts Board of Advisors.

For more information about the concert, contact the College of Creative Arts at (304) 293-4841 ext. 3108, or see Millers Web site athttp://www.allisonmiller.com.