Andrea (Kay Morris) Miller, 73, a bassoonist and a member of Local 802 since 1984, died on May 4, 2025.

Ms. Miller (who went by Kay Morris professionally), grew up in Baton Rouge and quickly fell in love with music. One of her earliest professional gigs was flying up to NYC as a teenager to perform on piccolo in the Macy’s parade as part of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band.

She later studied bassoon, oboe and flute at Louisiana State University, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in performance. She was accepted into a doctorate program at Indiana University, but her professional career was calling and an unusual opportunity presented itself, which also resulted in meeting her future husband.

In the 1970’s, Venezuela was in a classical music boom and started recruiting American musicians. In 1979 Ms. Miller was offered the chance to play in an orchestra in Caracas, where she met her husband Ivan, a trumpeter and a fellow American. Later, they won chairs in the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra.

Both eventually moved back together to the NYC area, joined Local 802, and continued their professional music careers. Ms. Miller became a successful freelance bassoonist and played with the Oratorio Society of Queens and the New Jersey Pops, as well as numerous church gigs with her husband.

At the same time, Ms. Miller studied to become a paralegal, and ended up working in law for 25 years while still performing as a professional musician.

But that wasn’t enough. Ms. Miller was skilled with her hands and became a top woodwind repairer. “She was the kind of person who if she got interested in something, she went at it 100 percent,” remembers her husband Ivan. “She was a perfectionist.”

Ms. Miller was also a lifelong crafter who sewed, made jewelry and taught herself how to make quilts of the highest standards. “She was gifted mechanically,” said Ivan.

In fact, Ms. Miller bought a top-of-line sewing machine just five weeks before she died. “It was so complicated that it had WiFi,” said Ivan. “But when she tried it out in the store, she instantly figured it out.”

Ms. Miller is survived by her husband Ivan, their son Benjamin, and her sisters Georgia and Rae.

Additional tributes to Ms. Miller can be found here.