A former child prodigy, pianist Judith Lynn Stillman adds a new piece to her repertoire: music director at La Jolla Country Day.
by Sue Garson
In 1993, pianist Judith Lynn Stillman recorded an album with long-time friend, jazz great Wynton Marsalis. That album, called "On the Twentieth Century," made it to the Top Ten of Billboard's jazz charts. Stillman explains the seeds of their collaboration: "Wynton and I met as teenagers when we were both fellowship students at the Tanglewood Music Festival," Stillman explains. "He invited me to come to a jam session at midnight... Even though I grew up in New York City, this was my first real exposure to jazz - and I saw stars." That night Judy Stillman told Marsalis that he'd go places. He certainly has. And so has she.
Renowned for her energetic temperament, vivaciousness, conviction and insight, the La Jolla-based Stillman has dazzled audiences in the U.S. Europe, Latin America and Israel for decades. Winner of 18 national and international competitions, Stillman has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Tokyo and Moscow String Quartets, the Israel Philharmonic Chamber players and the Jerusalem Trio. She teaches at Rhode Island College and the New England Conservatory of Music and is Upper School music director at La Jolla Country Day School. Last March she played Chopin's Grand Polonaise from the soundtrack of The Pianist at a post-Oscar party and the room was electrified by her virtuoso playing, her free-flowing mane of reddish hair and her dramatic flame red gown.
Stillman is blessed with musical genes. Her family has produced four generations of remarkable female musical talent beginning with Grandma Francis Better. She was invited to sing at the Metropolitan Opera House but her stepfather forbade it and Grandma acquiesced. Mom and opera star Robert Merrill had the same voice coach and sang duets together during voice lessons in Carnegie Hall Studios. But marriage and raising three doctors and one piano virtuoso became all-consuming, and her musical career met the same fate as Grandma's: oblivion.
Judith Lynn, born in a more enlightened age, was luckier. She began playing piano by ear at the age of 3 and entered Juilliard on scholarship at 10. When Stillman's mother took her to a concert at Carnegie Hall where Vladimir Horowitz was performing, the muse struck thunderously. "That's when the epiphanous moment occurred. I was so awed by his magic and coloration, that I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," she remembers. "I couldn't think of anything more celestial." She received Bachelor's, Masters and Doctoral degrees from Juilliard during the '80s and was the youngest student ever admitted to the prestigious school's Doctoral program. Now, Stillman's 16-year-old daughter, Liana, has followed in the family footsteps. She has been performing in public since she was 5 - sometimes in concert with her mother - and is an award-winning soprano.
During her years at Juilliard, Judith spent her summers in Israel learning Hebrew and playing with the Israel Philharmonic Chamber Players. After receiving her doctorate, she left for a year-long sabbatical in Tel Aviv. In fact, it was during this trip 16 years ago that Liana - her only child - was born.
During a chamber music concert on a kibbutz, Stillman asked for a volunteer to act as her page-turner. None of the kibbutzniks were able to read music but Stillman gave the volunteer instructions to turn the page when she nodded. But every time Stillman nodded, the volunteer turned the pages from left to right rather than from right to left. "Luckily," Stillman chuckles, "I had memorized the music."
Another memorable musical moment came when she was playing in an outdoor concert in Central Park. During a soft pause in a late Beethoven sonata, sirens suddenly pierced the rarified air. Police were chasing an escaped convict through the aisles. Stillman was so focused she never missed a single beat. "I kept right on playing," she grins.
After years of enjoying international acclaim, last year Stillman moved to La Jolla where she added a new dimension to her career as musical director of La Jolla Country Day School. Here Stillman has created and developed "ArtsAlive! Informances." These uniquely named performances feature student actors recreating the historical context of music for educational purposes. The inaugural concert was held at the Neurosciences Institute last fall. Her La Jolla Country Day School Madrigals students performed along with the concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Stillman on the keyboard. Plans for future performances and productions are numerous and varied. After a successful Les Miserables last spring, she will be directing Fiddler On The Roof this coming season.
After recently recording in a San Diego studio with fiddler Mark O'Connor for an virtual interactive exhibit at the Sony Wonder Museum in New York City, she performed last month at Mark's Fiddle Camp in Point Loma with two violinists - Steven Clapp, Dean of Juilliard and Catherine Cho, a Juilliard faculty member. "Here we were," Stillman beams, "three Juilliard New Yorkers making music in San Diego."
With a teenage daughter, a full-time job and a heavy performance schedule on the East Coast and several continents, how does this petite single mother manage the pressure? "Ever since I was a young teenager, I traveled all over to make music," she shrugs. "So I'm used to it. This is what musicians do. We share our gifts wherever we are invited."
Minding the Arts
When: Saturday, Oct. 4, 4:30 p.m.
Where: The Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive, San Diego
Tickets $150. For more information, call (858) 626-2000.
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