Joan Stiles

“Joan Stiles possesses the chops, craft, imagination, wit and sophistication to be mentioned in a conversation with the most distinguished descendants of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk,” wrote Ted Panken in Downbeat magazine, giving a four–star review of Hurly-Burly, a 2007 CD release by Joan Stiles.

Pianist/Composer, Joan Silver Stiles has taught at MSM for over 35 years. She has the rare distinction of teaching in both the classical and jazz divisions, as a classroom/studio teacher and combo leader. Her current academic focus is on teaching Jazz Improvisation for Non-Jazz Majors, and Jazz Required Piano classes, for which she is the Coordinator/Administrator.

For her debut recording, Love Call (Zoho) Stiles wrote arrangements for an all-star octet with special guests, Clark Terry and Frank Wess. Love Call was on many Top Ten lists and climbed to #9 on JazzWeek Radio. Her 2nd release, Hurly-Burly, features a dynamic sextet with Jeremy Pelt, Steve Wilson, Joel Frahm, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash. Many of the selections evolved from her long-running “Mostly Mary Lou” concert series, devoted to jazz great, Mary Lou Williams. Three Musicians, with Joel Frahm and Matt Wilson is her 3rd CD—an adventurous, highly interactive trio outing using collage techniques inspired by Picasso’s Cubist masterpiece.

Joan Stiles has led a very eclectic musical life. As a teenager, she sang and played guitar and keyboards in pop music groups, then studied classical piano in college. Early professional classical music experience was as a vocal and choral accompanist (Sine Nomine Singers and NY Women’s Chorus) on piano and harpsichord—with performances at Merkin and Kaufman Concert Halls.

Stiles’ educational background is also unusually varied. In 1986, she received her M.M. in Jazz Piano from Manhattan School of Music. She earned her B.A. with honors in classical piano from Brooklyn College and completed her coursework toward the Ph.D. in Music Theory in the C.U.N.Y. Doctoral Program—all accomplished as a young mother of two. During her graduate fellowship, she taught classical theory/musicianship and served as Assistant Conductor of the Brooklyn College Chorus. For over 20 years, she taught jazz piano/theory classes and led vocal ensembles in Mannes’ New School Jazz Program.

As jazz pianist/composer, Joan Stiles has performed at major NY jazz clubs and concert venues including The Blue Note, Iridium, Smoke and The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. Her “Mostly Mary Lou” quintet performed at the “Kool-Knowledge Conference” at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers and she was the featured guest on NPR’s “Piano Jazz” show and on WBGO’s “Jazz from the Archives.”

For yet another side to her multi-faceted musical life, Stiles has contributed articles, transcriptions and compositions to publications including The Miles Davis Reader, Black Music Research Journal, 1001 Keyboard Ideas, Jazz/Keyboard Workshop, The Piano Stylist, Sheet Music Magazine and The Institute for Studies in American Music Newsletter.  Her compositions have been published in Dr. Johnson’s Piano Method and in Pieces to Grow On (Steinway Library of Piano Music) and an analytical article on one of Mary Lou Williams’ compositions,“Waltz Boogie: Unity, Inflection and the Blues” was accepted for publication by the Journal of Jazz Studies (Rutgers).

Most recently, Joan Stiles has been developing as a composer for 18-piece jazz orchestra—and as a visual artist. One of her landscape oil paintings was included in a Monroe County Public Library art show—and she was accepted into the prestigious BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop.