BLAME ON BOTH SIDES BLUES

Judith Lynn Stillman, the Artist-in-Residence and a Professor of Music at Rhode Island College, enjoys a distinguished international career as pianist, composer, choral conductor, filmmaker and artistic visionary, focusing upon using the arts as a voice for social justice. Stillman began playing piano at age three, entered Juilliard as a child, and received Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees from The Juilliard School, where she was awarded the Dethier Prize for Outstanding Pianist and won the Juilliard Concerto Competition. Winner of 18 piano competitions and the first Pell Award in the Arts, Stillman has performed for the Grammy’s in honor of Rostropovich, and at festivals including Tanglewood, Marlboro, Yale University at Norfolk, Cactus Pear, New College, Grand Teton Music Festival; for White House dignitaries; collaborations with Wynton Marsalis, Mark O’Connor, Jordan Rudess (of Dream Theater), The Beach Boys, leading singers from The Metropolitan Opera, the Borromeo, Muir, Lydian, Shanghai, Veronika and Cassatt String Quartets; CBS-Boston, WGBH Drive Time Live; commercial for BOSE with Herbie Hancock; Visiting Artist at music conservatories and festivals in Russia, China (Central Conservatory in Beijing), the Czech Republic (Prague Conservatory), France, UK, Italy, Holland, Israel and Costa Rica; created feature programming for RI PBS-TV. Stillman’s iconic duo recording with Wynton Marsalis on SONY Classical, "On the Twentieth Century," was on the Top Ten of the Billboard charts: “Stillman and Marsalis make an impeccable team. The playing consistently dazzles.”

In demand as a composer as well, Stillman’s "Phoenix from the Ashes," based upon Vedem: The Secret Magazine by the Boys of Terezin, was the centerpiece of the Holocaust Commemoration at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, DC, and Night Falling, Phoenix Rising: A Holocaust Remembrance, performed by Stillman and Lori Phillips of The Metropolitan Opera. Stillman’s first recording with North Star, featuring Stillman’s arrangements with members of NY Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, sold over 200,000 copies in its first year. "Dueling Double Divas: A Comic Micro-Opera," with music and lyrics by Stillman, written for Mary Phillips and Lori Phillips, identical twin opera singers of The Metropolitan Opera, was premiered by the Phillips twins and aired on RI PBS-TV. Stillman composed and performed the film score for a Films JAD documentary that premiered on CBC-TV Canada and was a feature film in 48 countries worldwide.

Stillman’s film, for which she wrote the music and script, and served as director and pianist – "When the Music Stopped: In Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide" – won four prizes in international film festivals and received its premiere in Hollywood, CA in 2016. The Armenian Weekly states: “Stillman’s When the Music Stopped is a breathtaking masterpiece, conceived of, and brilliantly executed by pianist, composer and artistic visionary Judith Lynn Stillman. Stillman’s true genius shines as she catapults the audience into a multi-layered, artistically complex presentation exploring injustice, survival and hope. Stillman reaches for the stars and succeeds brilliantly in transporting us through darkness towards life and growth.” Founder-Director of Refugee Artistry, Stillman’s recent work in Greece – "Reaching Refugees with Music" – was featured in The Boston Globe. The Globe’s Spotlight reporter Kevin Cullen writes: “Armed with nothing more than a miniature keyboard, Judy Stillman went to Greece to meet refugees who left everything behind… Stillman’s empathy is sadly but uniformly rare.” Stillman founded Refugee Artistry, which is actively seeking submissions of stories, poems, artwork and photographs by, for and about refugees, to promote awareness and give refugees and immigrants a voice through the arts.
www.judithlynnstillman.com