Women Trailblazers in Music

Judith Lynn Stillman's Women Trailblazers in Music takes us on a journey with tunes and tales by - and about - pioneering women composers who were all but expunged from history.  The film, premiering at Rhode Island College, presented by Masterworks Concerts, and commissioned by Artists & Activists Productions and FirstWorks, features stories rarely heard, and music not often played.

Twenty-five celebrated performers appear in the film, a creation of Rhode Island College artist-in-residence Judith Lynn Stillman, who serves as filmmaker, pianist, writer, and artistic director. Actor Becky Bass plays the role of Florence Price, the first Black woman composer to have her music played by a major symphony orchestra. Other notable cast members include Jeanine Kane of the Gamm Theatre, Emmy award-winning actor Kate Burton, cellist Aristides Rivas, sopranos Michelle Esposito and Mia Douglas, and Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra Concertmaster Charles Dimmick.

“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," said Stillman.