Joshua Hill is a singer/songwriter, violinist, & multimedia artist

Raised in Flagstaff, Arizona, Joshua Hill’s career spans film, performance, and community programming, with a focus on the healing power of music for people living with dementia.

Hill is a Canadian Screen Award winner for his songwriting in the Academy Award–nominated film The Breadwinner, and his music has appeared in films premiering at Sundance and SXSW. As a violinist and composer, he has collaborated with artists including Califone, Boxhead Ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, and Simon Joyner, while producing original albums and scores for narrative and documentary film.

In 2020, Hill became a caregiver for his father, who was diagnosed with dementia. That experience became the foundation for Song Cycle, a multimedia performance about memory, family, and the role of music in dementia care. The work was funded by New Music USA, FCA, and California Humanities, and has been presented at REDCAT, The Amargosa Opera House, and The Tank Center for Sonic Arts. Song Cycle was also featured in Innovations in Alzheimer’s Care (Maude’s Awards, 2022) and recognized by Dementia Spring with back-to-back Dementia Arts Impact Award finalist honors.

Building on this momentum, Hill developed Cowboy Dream, a new performance project inspired by his caregiving journey, which was recently workshopped at Coconino Center for the Arts. He has also launched community music programs in Arizona—including Sound Connections and Song Hearth—and led residencies in memory care facilities, using music to foster creativity, dignity, and joy for people with memory loss.

A frequent collaborator in the arts-in-health space, Hill has worked with organizations such as Oakwood Creative Care, Orpheus Male Chorus, and Social Prescribing USA. He is a member of the National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH), the Arts and Health Early Career Research Network, and Songwriters of North America, and he continues to present and consult on arts-based dementia interventions.

Whether writing scores, performing onstage, or building community through music, Hill’s work is united by a belief in the transformative power of creativity—even, and especially, in the face of memory loss.