About

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MIMI STILLMAN is one of the most celebrated flutists in the music world, critically acclaimed for her brilliant artistry, passionate interpretation, and innovative programming. Hailed by The New York Times as “a consummate and charismatic performer”, she is a sought-after soloist and chamber musician. A Yamaha Performing Artist, she has appeared as soloist with orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Yucatán, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, and Hilton Head Orchestra, and as recitalist and chamber musician at venues including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Brooklyn’s Roulette, Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Bard College, La Jolla Chamber Music Festival, and Kol HaMusica in Israel. A wide-ranging and innovative artist, Ms. Stillman celebrates the canon while deeply exploring new music and Latin genres. Her “Syrinx Journey”, with which she honored Claude Debussy on his 150th birthday by making a video of his three-minute masterpiece “Syrinx’ every day for one year, captivated a global audience.

As founding Artistic Director of Dolce Suono Ensemble, she has created a dynamic force in the music world highly regarded for its chamber music concerts of Baroque to contemporary music. Featured as Chamber Music America’s “American Ensemble”, Dolce Suono Ensemble boasts 44 commissioned works in 11 years. Ms. Stillman has premiered works by eminent composers including Jennifer Higdon, Shulamit Ran, Richard Danielpour, Steven Mackey, Mason Bates, David Ludwig, Zhou Tian, and the late Steven Stucky. Ms. Stillman has enjoyed fruitful collaborations with artists including Lucy Shelton, Eric Owens, Julius Baker, Paquito D’Rivera, David Amram, The Dover Quartet, Juan Diego Flórez, Anthony Newman, Roberto Díaz, and Jaime Laredo, and recorded a film soundtrack for Kevin Bacon. Orchestrally, she has played under the baton of conductors including Simon Rattle, Andre Previn, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, and David Zinman.

With an extraordinary range of accomplishments and intellectual interests, Mimi Stillman made the leap from child prodigy to inimitable artist. At age 12, she was the youngest wind player ever admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with the legendary Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner. She went on to receive a MA and PhD (abd) in history at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a published author on music and history integrating scholarship with her artistic vision in projects with her hallmark, thought-provoking depth. She is lauded for expanding the flute repertoire through her arrangements and compositions among them her award-winning Nuits d’étoiles: 8 Early Songs of Claude Debussy (Theodore Presser). She can be heard on several recordings including her critically praised “Freedom”, music for flute, piano, and the human spirit, and “Odyssey: 11 American Premieres” (Innova), both with her longstanding duo pianist Charles Abramovic.

Mimi Stillman has won many competitions and awards including Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Bärenreiter Prize for Best Historical Performance for Winds, Astral Artists, and the Philadelphia Women in the Arts Award. Devoted to education, she has taught masterclasses for institutions including the National Flute Association, Eastman School of Music, Cornell University, Rutgers University, the universities of Texas, California, and Virginia, and at conservatories and flute associations throughout the world. Her Música en tus Manos project to introduce chamber music to the Latino community of Philadelphia won the Knight Arts Challenge Grant. She is on faculty of Curtis Summerfest, Music for All National Festival, and University of Pennsylvania.

 

Photo by Vanessa Briceño