Daily Inspiration: Meet Jennifer Miller-Hammel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Miller-Hammel.

Hi Jennifer, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Master of Music degree, Jennifer Miller Hammel moved to Los Angeles to become an opera and session singer and landed a starring role behind the mic on KUSC and KDFC. She has been performing professionally as a vocalist, recording artist, and pianist since her teenage years, with career highlights that include Gounod’s “Faust” (as Marguerite), “Ragtime” (as Mother), soprano soloist in “Carmina Burana,” Poulenc’s “Gloria,” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, plus various productions in the ensembles of Opera Santa Barbara and Long Beach Opera. It’s not a huge secret, but Jennifer happens to be an avid gamer which she shows to full effect on Classical California’s Arcade, where she takes the controller to enchant you with hours and hours of today and yesterday’s music for the best games, plus classical pieces used in games or that inspired today’s game composers. When it comes to classical music, Jennifer wants listeners to know how much we can all learn from the life experience of the people behind the music.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a musician who lives in both the traditional classical music world and the gaming world, it’s been my honor to work to bridge the gap between Faure and Final Fantasy – two musical worlds that are closer than most think! In Handel’s day, most composers went where the work was. For Handel, that was London where he wrote for the opera at Covent Garden and for the court of King George II. Today, composers who are well known in the gaming world, like Nanita Desai and Wilbert Roget are doing the same. These two eras of classical music, though separated by 300 years, are rooted in similar places. A love for the art, and a desire to tell a story through melody.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Host at Classical California

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Gaming and music have been in my life since my earliest memories. I remember when I was around three years old, climbing up on the bench of my aunt’s monstrous upright piano and making up my own melodies at the keyboard, pretending I was a world class concert pianist like the ones I saw on television. Around the same time, I discovered the Atari 2600 and a little game called “Pac-Man” which started me on a path to a lifelong fascination with the gaming medium and the incredible artistry that surrounds it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://classicalcalifornia.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenmillerradio/?hl=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenmillerradio/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrMyo3oBwu9BakNtfoIanMA