Recognized as a child virtuoso, flutist Mimi Stillman started studying at The Curtis Institute of music at age 12 years old. In 1999 she became the youngest wind player ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. Today, she performs internationally as soloist and chamber musician, and teaches master classes at several universities and flute societies. With a plan to call Philadelphia home for a while, she has founded and acts as Artistic Director for the Dolce Suono Chamber Music Concert Series. This season Dolce Suono gives five concerts at First Unitarian Church and two in suburban venues at Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges and has educational outreach partnerships with three Philadelphia public schools. Check out Dolce Suono this month with a program celebrating great American music.

How did you end up in Philadelphia?
I was born in Boston and moved to Philadelphia when I was 12 to study at the Curtis Institute of Music. I was the youngest wind player ever accepted to Curtis, where I studied with legendary flutists Julius Baker and Jeffrey Khaner (www.youtube.com/mimistillman video of duet with Julius Baker at age 11)

Describe your music to us:
I perform music from the Renaissance and Baroque period to contemporary. I’m attracted to music that allows me to be as dramatic and expressive as possible, because for me, what’s really thrilling about being a musician is - the power to move people through the music. Besides solo and chamber music I love to play orchestral music and I substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra when I’m free. I look forward to performing in Mahler’s 8th Symphony with The Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center and Carnegie Hall in end-April and May.

Describe what Dolce Suono does:
I founded the Dolce Suono Chamber Music Concert Series in 2005, which is in its third season of presenting chamber music concerts and doing educational outreach partnerships in the Philadelphia public schools, all free to the Philadelphia community. Our mission is to enrich and inform people’s lives through music. Dolce Suono’s core musicians are fellow Curtis graduates, members of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and musicians from Temple University and U. Penn. Dolce Suono is acclaimed for its exciting, unique programming and the way it energizes audiences.

What do you find most inspiring about Philadelphia?
It’s gratifying to look out into the audience and see friends who’ve been following my career since my Curtis days. That’s part of the reason why I started Dolce Suono - to make music for my hometown audiences and give back to the community which I feel has given me so much. I think Philadelphia is a fun place to spend time when I’m not working, too, with great restaurants, museums, and cultural events.

What is your favorite venue to perform and listen?
That’s a difficult question, because I like so many concert halls. [When performing I enjoy] Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall and Perelman Theater, Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Jordan Hall in Boston. My fellow Dolce Suono musicians and I love performing in Dolce Suono’s home venue at First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia.

Dolce Suono - “Homage to America: Celebrating American Music”
Mimi Stillman, flute; Hirono Oka, violin; Daniel Lickteig, baritone; Jeremy Gill, piano
Music by Ivest, Barber, Rota, Copland, Bernstein, Gershwin, and a world premiere by Jeremy Gill
Post-concert reception
April 16th at 7:30pm.

First Unitarian Church
2125 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
FREE!
www.mimistillman.org
www.dolcesuono.com