Her grandfather, Silvano Prestini, was a sought-after oboist who played at La Scala, and his father was an oboist and first oboist at La Scala and with the NBC orchestra under Toscanini. Her father, Giuseppe Prestini, continued the musical tradition through his company Prestini: Pads, Reeds and Musical Instruments Since 1890. The family immigrated to Nogales, Arizona where they had factories in the US and Mexico. The company continues to thrive. Get to know his world here.
Fun Facts
Studied with composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies on the island of Hoy
Spent a month going down the Colorado River for the project, The Colorado with filmmaker Murat Eyuboglu, conservationist and writer Bill de Buys, Mark Rylance, and Claire Van Kampen, a trip that remains a life highlight
Helped create the textbook with Jon Deak for composing with kids for the NY Philharmonic, then taught it to young composers in Venezuela with El Sistema
Loves boxing
Has two tattoos, one designed by her sister
Is a regular hiker and loves going for mushrooms in Northern Italy
Career Highlights
November 2001 - Formed and incorporated her first group, VisionIntoArt
October 2015 - Launched National Sawdust
August 2016 - Composed, created and produced The Hubble Cantata, featuring the short Fistful of Stars, the world’s first Virtual Reality mass exploration of the cosmos alongside the Hubble Telescope that transports you inside of the Orion Nebula and reveals the cosmic connections between humans and the stars
2016 - Composed and Produced The Colorado, which has toured and been in over 30 film festivals and with presenters such as the Met Museum and The Kennedy Center
2017 - Started the Hildegard Competition, for emerging women and other marginalized genders, and the Blueprint Fellowship in partnership with the Juilliard School composition department
2018 - First Woman Commissioned in Minnesota Opera's New Works Initiative
2018 - First New Commission for The Atlanta Opera with Sensorium Ex
February 2020 - Commissioned to write for The New York Philharmonic's Project 19. Created Thrush Song with Maria Popova
Accolades
Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans
Sundance Fellow
Artist in Residency with Park Avenue Armory
Named one of “Top 100 Composers in the World” (NPR)
“Top 30 Professionals of the Year” (Musical America)
“Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” (The Washington Post)
Brooklyn Magazine’s 2019 list of “influencers of Brooklyn culture…in perpetuity” alongside household names like Chuck Schumer and Spike Lee
2019 Clocktower Award by MASS MoCA in a gala honoring her and artists Nick Cave and Bob Faust.
Resident at the American Academy of Rome
Dreams
Collaborate on films with Paolo Sorrentino and Luca Guadagnino
Bring My Brilliant Friend to the operatic stage, in honor of her lifelong friendship with her best friend, Carla Cota
