Cedar Miller has performed as a french horn player in bands and orchestras for over 50 years. Growing up in Canberra, Cedar began trumpet classes at the Canberra School of Music at age 9 after he was heard blowing on a hosepipe from the laundry. After a few years his teacher advised that he would suit the horn better and after only a few weeks Cedar was promoted to the CYO Training Orchestra. (It pays to play an unusual instrument.)
There were many opportunities for a young horn player in Canberra and Cedar played regularly with the Canberra Youth Orchestra, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Canberra Opera, the Philharmonic Society, Canberra City Band, and any other groups that needed a horn player.
From 1985 to 1991 he was a musician in the Australian Army playing in bands in Canberra, Adelaide and Sydney. In 1997 Cedar moved to Brisbane and played with the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra and a good number of other orchestras and bands. He worked for 20 years at the State Library of Queensland before retiring and moving to Mullumbimby. Cedar won the Open French Horn contest at the National Band Championships in 2023.
Cedar has been arranging and composing for several years. In 2014 he and creative partner Dale Hubbard formed Lord Brisbane’s Imperial Orchestra for the purpose of performing new music. A highlight of their collaboration was the performance of two full length ballets with Queensland National Ballet School with all the music composed or arranged by Dale and Cedar. Cedar conducted his own arrangement for brass of the Toccata from Orfeo by Monteverdi with the LSO in the Ethereal concert in March.