Greg Milliren

Greg Milliren, the Minnesota Orchestra’s associate principal flutist since 2009, has performed as guest principal flute with the Dallas Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony. Additionally, he has appeared with the major orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, National, Colorado and Jacksonville. He performed with the Russian National Orchestra during their tour to Minnesota, with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, and the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston. He has appeared regularly with the Lakes Area Music Festival and recently with the Arizona Music Festival.

Milliren is an experienced chamber musician, having appeared on the Orchestra’s chamber music series many times and has performed with various chamber music series in venues across the Twin Cities and the U.S. During his freelance years in Los Angeles, he was a producer and performer for numerous concerts with The Definiens Project, a group which brought fun and inventive contemporary chamber music to diverse audiences in relaxed and accessible settings. He performed Christopher Rouse’s Flute Concerto in 2012 with the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and has been a featured soloist with several other organizations in the Twin Cities.

As an educator, he is in demand locally and nationally as a teacher and audition coach, and has given performances and masterclasses at the University of Southern California, the Colburn School, Idyllwild Arts Academy, St. Olaf College, Iowa State University, the University of Wisconsin Madison, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and Duluth, and the MacPhail Center for Music. His students have won local competitions and have gone on to their own careers in music. He has performed many times for the pre-school, kindergarten and elementary age audiences of the KinderKonzerts sponsored by Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra. He is also a frequent volunteer with the Minnesota Orchestra’s many internal working committees.

Growing up in the Milwaukee area, Milliren began studying piano as a six-year-old and picked up the flute at age 10. His experience with the Milwaukee Youth Symphony nurtured a love of symphonic music and set him on the path to music as a profession. He first performed with the Minnesota Orchestra as a substitute musician while earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota. He subsequently completed a master’s degree at the University of Southern California, not realizing at the time he would end up back in Minnesota a few years later. He credits his parents, grandmother Charlotte, and his many music teachers and mentors for helping him succeed.

Milliren and his husband Dan make their home in St. Louis Park with their rescue pit bull, Sadie.