A Legacy That Continues
When Stacy Widelitz passed away on June 17, 2025, Nashville lost more than an Emmy-nominated composer, songwriter, photographer, civic leader, and volunteer. We lost a man whose greatest gift wasn’t simply his remarkable talent—it was his unwavering belief in people, the arts, and the power of community.
Throughout his life, Stacy poured his heart into organizations that shaped Nashville’s creative landscape. He served in leadership roles with the Nashville Film Festival, Nashville Opera, Leadership Music, Alias Chamber Ensemble, Dismas House, and his community as an Oak Hill City Commissioner. Whether composing music, mentoring young artists, serving on nonprofit boards, or quietly helping a friend in need, Stacy believed that success meant giving back.
His passing could have marked the end of a remarkable chapter. Instead, it became the beginning of an even larger legacy.
Through the generosity of his estate and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Stacy’s lifelong commitment to creativity and community continues to flourish. New initiatives are investing in the next generation of filmmakers, composers, and storytellers while expanding opportunities for women in film—causes that reflected Stacy’s belief that extraordinary talent deserves extraordinary support.
His legacy now reaches even further through support for educational programming, emerging artists, and community partnerships that strengthen Nashville’s creative ecosystem. Every grant awarded, every artist encouraged, every filmmaker, composer, author and photographer celebrated, and every opportunity created reflects the values Stacy lived every day: generosity, excellence, curiosity, and an enduring belief that the arts have the power to change lives.
Those who knew Stacy remember his wit, his unmistakable laugh, his love of photography, perfectly stirred martinis, fast British sports cars, and stories that somehow became funnier with every telling. But perhaps his greatest masterpiece wasn’t a song or a photograph.
It was the community he helped build. Today, that community continues his work.
His name lives on not only through the music he created, but through the lives he continues to inspire, the artists whose dreams are made possible because of his generosity, and the countless people who choose to invest in others because Stacy first invested in them.
That is a legacy no final curtain can ever close.
His community gifts.
Through the stewardship of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Stacy’s generosity continues to support the organizations and causes he loved most. His legacy includes a generous gift to the Nashville Opera, ensuring that music and performance continue to inspire future generations. His compassion for those without a voice is reflected in a substantial gift dedicated to animal welfare, honoring his lifelong love of animals to the Nashville Humane Association.
His passion for storytelling lives on through the Widelitz Music in Film Award at the Nashville Film Festival, recognizing the extraordinary power of music to elevate film. That vision has expanded even further through the Women in Film Initiative, creating new opportunities to celebrate, mentor, and elevate women working throughout the film industry.
His belief in servant leadership also continues through the Leadership Music Gift of Service Day, encouraging future leaders to give back to the community that shaped them, just as Stacy did throughout his own life.
These aren’t simply charitable gifts.
They are investments in creativity. In kindness. In leadership. In community. They are a reflection of the life Stacy lived—and a reminder that generosity has a remarkable way of outliving us.
If Stacy ever taught us anything, it was that the measure of a life isn’t found only in what we accomplish, but in what continues because we were here.
Continue Stacy’s Legacy
Join us in investing in the artists, musicians, filmmakers, leaders, and community organizations that mattered so deeply to Stacy. Together, we can ensure his spirit of generosity continues to inspire generations to come.
