Mimi Stillman is a professional concert
flutist
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
.
Career
Born in
Boston, Massachusetts, Stillman became, at the age of 12, the youngest flute player ever admitted to the
Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with
Julius Baker
Julius Baker (September 23, 1915 – August 6, 2003) was one of the foremost American orchestral flute players. During the course of five decades he concertized with several of America's premier orchestral ensembles including the Chicago Sympho ...
and
Jeffrey Khaner. She obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in 1999. The same year she became the youngest wind player to win the
Young Concert Artists.
Stillman received an MA in history and was a Ph.D. candidate at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
.
In regard to her performances, the New York Times has described her as "a consummate and charismatic performer." In 2012, she received the Women in the Arts award from Women for Greater Philadelphia.
She founded the Dolce Suono Ensemble in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
in 2005 and remains its executive and artistic director. The ensemble's commissioning program has led to the creation of 44 new works in eleven years.
Stillman is host and performer on the Musical Encounters TV show and video ''
The Magic Flute
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that in ...
''. She recorded the soundtrack for
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. His films include the musical-drama film '' Footloose'' (1984), the controversial historical conspiracy legal thriller '' JFK'' (1991), the legal drama '' A Few Good Men'' (1992), t ...
's film ''
Loverboy''.
On August 22, 2012, the 150th anniversary of Debussy's birth, she embarked on a project which she titled "Syrinx Odyssey," with the goal to record herself playing her solo flute work
''Syrinx'' every day for a year, filmed in different locations over 366 days, with each new video performance posted online every day.
In 2013, Stillman became the first Shirley and Sid Curtiss Distinguished Faculty Chair, chamber music coach, and lead faculty member of the
Settlement Music School
Settlement Music School is a community music school with branches in and around Philadelphia. Founded in 1908 by two young women, Jeannette Selig Frank and Blanche Wolf Kohn, it is the largest community school of the arts in the United States. It ...
's Shirley Curtiss Center for Woodwind Studies.
She left the position in 2015.
In 2014, Stillman was inducted as an honorary member in
Sigma Alpha Iota
Sigma Alpha Iota () is a women's music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its m ...
, together with
Jennifer Higdon.
Selected publications
Claude Debussy, ''Nuits d'étoiles: Eight Early Songs'', arr. Mimi Stillman for flute and piano (King of Prussia, Pa., 2002
Theodore Presser.
Mimi Stillman, "Debussy, Painter of Sound and Image", ''Flute Quarterly'' (Fall 2007): 41-46.
Mimi Stillman, "The Music of Dante's ''Purgatorio''",
Hortulus: The Online Graduate Journal of Medieval Studies' 1, no. 1 (2005): 13-21.
Mimi Stillman
"Philadelphia's Changing Opera Landscape" ''NewMusicBox'', 11 June 2012.
Mimi Stillman,
Into the Light: Mieczyslaw Weinberg's Five Pieces for Flute and Piano, The Flutist Quarterly (Winter 2016)
Selected recordings
''
reedomhttp://www.innova.mu/albums/mimi-stillman-charles-abramovic/freedom Freedom': Premiere recordings by Richard Danielpour, David Finko, and Mieczyslaw Weinberg. Mimi Stillman, flute and Charles Abramovic, piano, with Yumi Kendall, cello. Innova Recordings, 2015.
Odyssey: 11 American Premieres for Flute and Piano (2-CD set), Mimi Stillman, flute, Charles Abramovic, piano
Innova Recordings814 (2011).
The Concertos of David Finko / Mimi Stillman, piccolo, with Orchestra 2001 and James Freeman, conductor. Centaur, 2013.
Jeremy Gill, Chamber Music, TROY1067.
Notes: Music from Four Continents, Mimi Stillman, flute, Allen Krantz, guitar. Direct-to-Tape DTR2021 (2012).
''Mimi'': Debut Solo Recording with Charles Abramovic, piano. Music by Poulenc, Debussy, premieres by
Daniel Dorff
Daniel Dorff (born March 7, 1956) is an American classical composer.
Biography and career
Dorff was born in New Rochelle, New York, and grew up in Roslyn, New York, graduating from Roslyn High School.A Compact Disc Recording of Three Works f ...
and Lawrence Ink, Astor Piazzolla, and Brazilian choros. Dolce Suono, 2004.
Videorecording of George Crumb's "Vox Balaenae" ("Voice of the Whale") for Curtis Performs.
References
External links
*
Dolce Suono EnsembleMimi Stillman YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillman, Mimi
Living people
American flautists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Curtis Institute of Music alumni
Musicians from Boston