Women Trailblazers in Music: The Deserted Garden
Raise Your Voice
TEXT: The Deserted Garden. A film by Judith Lynn Stillman. Based on writings and music of Florence B. Price. Featuring Charles Dimmick, Judith Lynn Stillman, Becky Bass as Florence Price.Background image of a black and white garden.
"These extraordinary women composers have been marginalized, repressed, and shamefully neglected, but should be household names. Our objective in creating Women Trailblazers in Music is to redress this historic imbalance." -Judith Lynn Stillman
Judith Lynn Stillman
To access and view "The Deserted Garden," please email Sam Zimmer, FirstWorks' Education Program Coordinator at szimmer@firstworks.org. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Judith Lynn Stillman, filmmaker and pianist, has selected a powerful chapter from her groundbreaking film, WOMEN TRAILBLAZERS IN MUSIC, to share with educators. The Deserted Garden features Becky Bass in the role of composer Florence B. Price. Price was the first Black woman composer to have her music played by a major symphony orchestra. Her words reflect the immense set of double challenges she faced - as a woman and as a person of color - in the music world. The poignant text is interlaced with Price's exquisite music performed by Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster Charles Dimmick and Rhode Island College artist-in-residence Judith Lynn Stillman.
https://judithlynnstillman.com/

Date

November 4, 2021

Grades

8, 9, 10, 11, 12
Music/Music Composition, Social Justice, English Language Arts (ELA), Film/Mixed Media, History/Social Studies

Judith Lynn Stillman enjoys a distinguished international career as a pianist, composer, music director, filmmaker, and artistic visionary. Hailed by Wynton Marsalis as “a consummate artist,” she holds Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees from Juilliard. Stillman has received awards time and again as pianist and composer.

Stillman’s films and movie scores, shown in 48 countries and counting, are also recognized for their excellence. Many of her films are a form of “artivism,” where creative expression meets activism. Stillman is both the Artist-in-Residence and a Professor of Music at Rhode Island College. She serves as the Artistic Director for Judith Lynn Stillman & Friends from the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra at the Carter Center, and as the Artistic Director for Masterworks Concerts at the Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. Stillman’s unique “plays-within-a-concert” include various staged composer portraits: Beethoven: Torment and Triumph, Mozart’s Magical Mystery Tour, Mystery, Madness and Music (the Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms triangle), April in Paris with Poulenc, and Playing with Fire: Women Trailblazers in Music.

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