PORTRAITS IN SONG At Rhode Island College's Sapinsley Hall Ticket Registration Open
Free recital at Rhode Island College features classical and contemporary vocal works
By: A.A. Cristi Jan. 27, 2026
Ticket registration is now open for "Portraits in Song," a free vocal recital on Sunday, March 1 at Rhode Island College's Sapinsley Hall with exceptional artists Will Liverman (baritone), Kiera Duffy (soprano), and Judith Lynn Stillman (piano). Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley will deliver opening remarks.
Curated by Stillman, the College's Artist-in-Residence, the unique program traces a lineage of music for voice and piano from Mozart's beloved operas to Fauré's late Romantic art songs to exciting works by twentieth century and contemporary American composers. Highlights include Schuber's Der Hirt auf dem Felsen ("The Shepherd on the Rock") with acclaimed guest clarinetist Alexander Fiterstein, selections from H. Leslie Adams' powerful 1961 song cycle Nightsongs, and offerings from iconic musicals Annie Get Your Gun, Sweeney Todd, and Oklahoma. Concluding with a world premiere of Stillman's "'Tis You That Are The Music," this program offers a rare and accessible opportunity to experience an ambitious survey of vocal music performed by world-class artists. Register here for free tickets.
About the Artists
Longtime Artist-in-Residence at Rhode Island College Judith Lynn Stillman enjoys a distinguished international career as a pianist, composer, music director, and filmmaker. Stillman is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she earned her Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. Her international performance and recording career includes a wide range of creative projects that unite music with film, visual storytelling, and themes of social responsibility. A frequent collaborator with Will Liverman, Stillman's groundbreaking digital opera Essential Business starring Liverman won first prize in OperaVision's International Quarantine Competition. Additional notable collaborators include Jordan Rudess, Richard Stoltzman, Mark O'Connor, and Wynton Marsalis, with whom Stillman recorded a Billboard Top Ten duo album On the Twentieth Century.
Will Liverman is an American operatic baritone whose talent and versatility have earned him wide recognition. A graduate of Juilliard, Liverman has appeared in major roles at the Metropolitan Opera, including the title character in Anthony Davis's x: The Life and Times of Malcolm X and a leading role in the acclaimed production of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which won the 2023 GRAMMY Award for Best Opera Recording. His latest recording, The Dunbar/Moore Sessions, Volume II, is nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY Award in the Best Classical Compendium category.
American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for her gleaming high soprano, incisive musicianship, and arresting stage presence in an extraordinary range of repertoire, which spans from Bach and Mozart to Schoenberg and Mazzoli. This season, she returns to Opera Philadelphia for the world premiere of Complications in Sue by Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning playwright Michael R. Jackson. In addition to her active performing career, Duffy is a sought-after educator and currently serves as Associate Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
About Masterworks Concerts
Rhode Island College's Artist-in-Residence Judith Lynn Stillman serves as the Artistic Director for Masterworks Concerts, an ongoing series presented at RIC's Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts. Thoughtfully curated around engaging themes, Masterworks Concerts feature a wide range of repertoire that spans styles and eras. Each program is designed to showcase musical diversity while appealing to a broad audience, offering something for both seasoned listeners and newcomers alike. Recent performances have included Stillman's trademarked Play-Within-a-Concert productions such as Mozart's Musical Mystery Tour, Beethoven: Torment and Triumph, Dvořák: A Bohemian Rhapsody, April in Paris with Poulenc, and Women Trailblazers in Music. High-profile and GRAMMY Award-winning artists are frequent guests on the series, including Richard Stoltzman, Will Liverman, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, Jordan Rudess (of Dream Theater), the Borromeo, Lydian, Cassatt, Muir, and Shanghai String Quartets, and principal members of the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Rhode Island Philharmonic.
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