Ferrer Miller Duo

Name: Ferrer Miller Duo
Start: 2026-02-22T18:00:00-06:00
End: 2026-02-22T19:30:00-06:00
Location: Pianoforte Studios, 1335 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60605

Schedule

Sun Feb 22 2026 at 06:00 pm to 07:30 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

Pianoforte Studios, 1335 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL, United States, Illinois 60605 | Chicago, IL

Cellist Christopher Ferrer and Pianist Cacie Miller perform sonatas by Frederic Chopin and Sergei Prokofiev.
Program:
Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 65 (1847) - Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo and Trio
III. Largo
IV. Finale. Allegro
Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 119 (1949) - Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
I. Andante grave
II. Moderato
III. Allegro, ma non troppo

Christopher Ferrer is a member of Lakeshore Rush and principal cellist of Camerata Chicago, originally joining the orchestra in 2006.
Christopher has toured, recorded and performed internationally as an orchestral and chamber musician. His recording credits include the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s Chiraq and music for the 2020 film Dreaming Grand Avenue. He has performed with My Morning Jacket and Chance the Rapper – also with the Chicago Children’s Chorus, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, Chicago Sinfonietta, The Florida Orchestra, Mode, Anaphora, and Picosa. Christopher traveled as solo cellist for the Broadway North American Tour of West Side Story, giving performances throughout the United States and Canada. He is also featured as a guest artist on the award-winning album American Melting Pot as part of the premier recording of Ilya Levinson’s Shtetl Scenes for piano trio.
Born in Valencia, Venezuela, Christopher began studying cello through the Community School for the Arts in Wheaton, IL at the age of seven and was later a member of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. He attended the Royal College of Music in London and Northern Illinois University.

Cacie Miller has relied on the sounds and repertoire of the piano to help her make sense of the world around her since a young age. She is drawn to compositions packed with colorful storytelling and especially those that seem to push through the edges of reality. She relishes these qualities in the music of time honored composers such as Beethoven, Liszt, Debussy and Bartok, and in contemporary composers such as Lera Auerbach and Reena Esmail. Sometimes Cacie improvises and composes on her instrument.
Cacie is a passionate chamber musician, and enjoys chamber parties, improv, and more formal arrangements. She is a founding member of the Ferrer Miller Duo and the Helia Trio.
Cacie’s musicianship was fostered by several teachers throughout her university studies. She studied piano with William Heiles, Rebecca Penneys, and Robert Glover, theory with Steve Laitz, and harpsichord with Charlotte Mattax Moersch. She holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DMA in Performance and Literature), the Eastman School of Music (MA in theory pedagogy), Houghton University (MM in piano), and the University of Southern Maine (BM in piano). These studies informed Cacie’s playing and her own teaching through work on body/emotion integration at the piano, use of analytical practices to inform interpretive decisions, and practicing intentional listening to prepare communicative performances.
With hope of working toward sustainable cultural practices, Cacie has been actively working on the project Composing Our Climate, which began during her doctoral research. This project focuses on performer-driven commissioned chamber works written to work through emotional reckonings with the climate crisis. In Fall 2023, the first recital took place, with works by Shi-An Costello and Sam Sharp, two Chicago composers. In 2024-5, Cacie worked with Missing Piece to commission and present music by Scott Rubin, Alissa Voth and Ben Zucker.
Cacie enjoys making music in many places, at festivals in Germany, Italy and Puerto Rico, and through the Chicago area, including Constellation, Elastic Arts, Fourth Presbyterian Church, the Nineteenth Century Club, PianoForte Studios, and several area churches, including United Lutheran Church, where she is director of music. Cacie is a member of New Music Chicago, Musicians Club of Women Chicago, and MTNA's CAMTA chapter.