The musical composition wove together historical moments in a beautiful tapestry of unified force designed to intoxicate the mind...The message of this performance will echo along the human journey for generations to come!

Though 'Port(al)' was written for young singers, there was nothing toned-down or unsophisticated about it...'Port(al)' is an anti-war requiem

...exceptionally well written...Prestini is unafraid to take risks concerning the magnitude or moving parts of a production, and those risks certainly paid off for an inspiring performance of 'Port(al)'

A beguiling blend of elements drawn from folk, contemporary classical and 18th-century Baroque music, combined with improvisatory passages, drones, jazz harmonic structures and live electronics.

This work is everything dreamed and imagined, produced and performed with utmost care, consciousness and soul. “Primero Sueño” lights the way forward for all.

A deeply satisfying blend of musical styles that are alternatingly gentle, mystical and joyous.

Timeless and otherworldly and, somehow, boldly, a product of New York City.

Each shift in Prestini’s score was arresting.

The music was at every point dramatically compelling, without seeming cheap or manipulative.

[Paola's] use of the human voice as an interpreter of the ethereal is perfectly showcased in “Silent Light”.

A mourning hymn “There’s a city of light ’mid the stars,” set with jarringly dissonant intervals, was followed by a hypnotic choral echo of “White linens,” an aria sung by Esther’s mother, as the women washed and laid out the body. The resolution of the story seemed almost beside the point, and the clock—which Johan stopped when he first left the house after breakfast—was started again, implying that life goes on.

A richly ambiguous, provocative, and heady experience.

In a way, Silent Light could almost have been about National Sawdust: its dimensions, its versatility, its history of experimental work. It’s as if Prestini was paying tribute to the venue she has led for the past decade.

Prestini’s score moves seamlessly between environmental sound and music, combining some jazz and country influences with an otherwise highly contemporary musical language... a sexy, sinister number dominated by grooving drums and trombone was both surprising and memorable. Her chorus work is highly compelling… contemporary harmonies meet hymns in beautiful, surprising ways.

Throughout the 90-minute opera, Prestini utilizes the small orchestra with precision to support the libretto … the writing for the chorus is spectacular, borrowing the note-against-note harmonizing of the Mennonite hymn-singing tradition, but flavored with emotional tinges of dissonance...