RO conductor Mills touring U.S. as solo violinist for Mannheim Steamroller

Strings Unlimited of Red Oak conductor Becky Mills is spreading Christmas cheer through music.
Mills is currently touring with one of two tours of Mannheim Steamroller, the number one Christmas music ensemble of all time, serving in multiple capacities. Mills said the road to Mannheim Steamroller started as a child getting into music.
“I grew up in the Chicago suburb of Lombard and we had string programs in the grade schools. So I started piano when I was five and when I got to fourth grade they offered strings and I started on violin in public school. My teachers in grade school identified that I was talented right away and they got me out of the group lessons and into private lessons kind of unofficially,” explained Mills. “So I would take private lessons in one of the offices. They gave my teacher an office back there just to give me a private lesson once a week.”
When she was in junior high school, Mills said she was blessed with a good orchestra program, as well as in high school.
“I was able to learn through those orchestra programs and I started with private lessons with a new teacher in high school. Then I went to Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill., for music and I got a music education degree. I thought maybe I would teach music. Then I went to the University of Iowa and I got a Master’s of Arts in violin performance. So that was more centered on the performing part of violin,” commented Mills. “I taught music part-time in the Iowa City Public Schools. I was also performing a lot and I played in what is now the Quad City Symphony. It was the Tri-City Symphony when I was in it. And so I just had music all around in all aspects of my life. And then I entered the doctoral program at the University of Iowa for music. Shortly after I was in that I got my job in the Omaha Symphony and so I left school and stayed with the symphony in the spring of 1990. I’ve been with the Omaha Symphony ever since.”
Mills said it does give her a special feeling to make something she’s passionate about into her career, and makes it a point to say it’s not just a hobby.
“I do music for a living and I have other hobbies. I just happened to make a living doing something that I loved and I’m passionate about and that I’m talented at. I think I worked hard but I also had the right opportunities at the right times, the right people, great teachers,” said Mills.
When it comes to the right opportunities, Mills said her eventual joining with Mannheim Steamroller was purely coincidence.
“They’re based in Omaha, so they have Omaha shows every year. Back in 1990, my first year in the symphony, I started doing their Christmas shows in the backup orchestra. I did that for a few years and then stopped doing it because I wanted to do other things at Christmas, and later I rejoined Mannheim again. I had been doing it again for a few years when their regular solo violinist couldn’t play the Omaha concert and it was at the Quest Center. They called me and said, ‘Well you’ve done the show a lot, you know it, you can do it. Can you be our soloist? And I said, no. No, I don’t want to step up front.”
Mills said she was approached multiple times about taking the position and declined repeatedly until Mannheim founder Chip Davis himself called her and she agreed in 2003. Mills described that experience as surreal.
“I just couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe he trusted me to do that and that they persisted. He took me on the private jet with a few other people to go see a show from the audience and then to go see another show sitting behind his drum riser so that I could just feel the lights and hear what it sounded like from the stage. He really walked me into being the soloist. So I was totally ready when it was my time. It was so much fun and I never looked back. I’ve done it ever since,” Mills stated.
Currently, Mannheim Steamroller is touring with a Red Tour and a Green Tour. Mills is lead violin and a conductor on the Green Tour.
“We kind of split the country. My band is taking the eastern part of the United States, the other band is performing in the western part of the country. We’re doing 48 shows in around 50 days. There’s a very few days off and then there’s some double show days,” Mills advised. “Because of my education experience and my conducting that I’ve done, I’m also the conductor of each local orchestra. So when we arrive in a city, we have nine locals every day that play with us. So earlier in the day I get together with them and we go through the show and I help them learn what they need to learn for the show and get them ready. I’ve met so many great musicians this way all over the country, and I’ve got lots of friends in the music world from this job.”
Mills said it’s unbelievable what an opportunity she has to perform with Manheim year after year.
“I’m blown away regularly. We sell out theaters a lot and people will tell us that this has been part of their lives, or their kid’s life, their mom’s life, whatever it is. We’re at 40 years of Mannheim Christmas being performed and 50 years since Davis did the Fresh Air CDs and people are still loving it and I get to be front and center as the violin soloist. I’m always so grateful that I’m doing it. And now after performing for so long, we rehearse pretty intensely the week before as a band and then we have a day of technical rehearsals when we come out on the road, but that’s it. But I know the music so well because I’ve been doing it a lot. No matter what set list they throw in front of us, I usually know the piece,” Mills said.
Mills also appreciates the variety of the tour locations and the ability to meet new people and brighten their day.
“We play some big cities, but we also play some littler venues, and the people in the audience are just thrilled to be there. You can see the joy on the people’s faces in the audience. My dad is gone now, but when my parents would come to the shows in Omaha, and knowing my parents are so proud of me, the small things like that meant the world to me,” Mills explained. “While touring, I met a lady who couldn’t bring her mother because her mother is ill, She’s sending me a multiple CD pack of Mannheim music and she’s asked me to sign it with the band and send it back for her mother. She wanted to give this to her mom so her mom can just have this music as she’s ill. It’s so amazing that this music means that much to people.”
Mills also appreciates the friends who show up to the performances to cheer her on.
“It’s super fun. This year I didn’t think I was going see very many people that I knew because of the tour locations, and then, what do you know? They just pop up everywhere. Like, hey, guess what? I’m coming to see you. I was planning to see my kids last Saturday, but unfortunately due to the icy weather they were unable to come. My kids are my favorite fans, obviously. They know the show really well, they know the intricacies of Mannheim. They’ve watched different players in different positions for years. So they’re super fun to have in the audience because they give me a great critique afterwards,” stated Mills.
Mills added she’ll still be on the road touring come Christmas time, and will return home New Year’s Eve. While she’s not going to be touring anywhere close to Red Oak this year, Mills said local Red Oak fans will get a better opportunity in 2025.
“Next year I’m going play in Omaha. That performance will be in mid-December of next year. Or if someone is going to be traveling to an area I’m performing in before New Year’s, they can visit mannheimsteamroller.com for tour dates and ticket information,” commented Mills.
In Red Oak, Mills conducts Strings Unlimited, a group of local performance artists who rehearse at Faith Community Church in Red Oak. Mills said the performers have done her proud.
“They’ve done a couple performances while I’m away. They do it on their own, I prepare them as best I can, and then I leave to go on tour. They’re just awesome. And so I, out here, still feel like I’m in touch with them and happy that I get to be part of that too. They’re done performing for the year, but we’ll start back up with rehearsals in January of next year and then we’ll have a concert in May.”