click for PDF
click for PDF
click for PDF
click for PDF
“forged an enigmatic détente…potent…soulful.” Steve Smith, The New York Times, April 9, 2011
Prestini’s compositions are “radiant…[and] amorously evocative.”
Steve Smith, New York Times, April 5, 2010
read more at nytimes.com
“Paola Prestini’s music is wrenching and tender and luminous and pure and exuberant: always vivid and always generous. Her compositional voice sings of today, but also of an ancient, primordial time, a time of revelations and prophecies.”
Osvaldo Golijov, composer
“While all the pieces on VOX 2010 were excellent in their own particular ways, I have to say that Oceanic Verses was the one that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up for the sheer visceral pleasure of the musical language.”
Ed Yim, Director of Artistic Planning, New York City Opera
“…I love how your music speaks from the heart, and obviously inspires all of those you work with. Also, what a powerful voice of Roger Bonair-Agard…his exciting poetry envelopes your music with vibrancy…Paola, you rock!”
Terry Riley, composer
“Very impressive. I really liked all of it: Your sense of color and harmony, your generosity of spirit.”
Thomas Newman, composer
WNYC Interview:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/eveningmusic/episodes/2007/12/15
TimeOut article: Fusion Power. By Steve Smith.
http://66.111.110.102/newyork/articles/opera-classical/9397/fusion-power
Nightafternight article: The Vision Thing. By Steve Smith.
http://www.nightafternight.com/night_after_night/2006/03/the_vision_thin.html
Milanodabere Article
http://www.milanodabere.it/articolo_1832/visionintoart.html
Flavorpill Article
http://flavorpill.com/newyork/events/2008/1/13/visionintoart-presents-traveling-songs-and-violens
“Her work is sensual and heartfelt, touching upon minnimalism, film soundtracks, and the American avant-garde tradition.”
Tzadik Records
“…Gorgeous vocal lines anchor a chamber orchestra which includes cello, clarinet, marimba, and hand drums. Prestini’s emotional landscapes share a mournful, dreamlike quality with expansive harmonies that still gravitate to a tonal center. These pieces reward careful listening.”
Casual Listening Blog
read more…
“Soundly crafted and powerfully expressive…an impressive piece of virtuoso writing for a soloist with plenty of chops. I thought the use of this particular source material was refreshing, and that Prestini found many imaginative things to do with it.”
Palm Beach Post
“Prestini’s wedding of disparate styles…an intoxicating profusion of seemingly unrelated impressions…Straightforward melodicism augmented with electronic resonance-a happy adaptation of minimalism’s more sensual effects.”
Steve Smith from nightafternight.blogs.com
“…taps the explosive potential of multimedia collaboration.”
Steve Smith, TimeOut NY
“Hugely talented– contemporary and sophisticated.”
Limor Tomer, Executive Director, Music Programming, WNYC
“VIA promises to shock, yet make one think.”
Hank Dutt, Kronos Quartet
“…brimming with ideas, startling images, haunting music, unexpected juxtapositions and insights.”
Eric Booth, Arts Advocate,
National Consultant to Arts Organizations
Juillliard Faculty (former)
“Ingeniously staged concert pieces that gracefully walk the line between opera and performance art.”
TimeOut NY
“Art that crosses boundaries, breaks barriers.”
Milanodabere.it
“Smart and forward-looking.”
DanceInsider.com
“I had the pleasure of experiencing a “VisionIntoArt” event at the Whitney Museum this last season. In it were top-notch performers playing music, reading verse, accompanied by stunning films and paintings. All were tied together in some way. At one point some of us audience members were given some music and asked to sing along. It could have bombed, but the VIA people chose well and the effect was truly memorable. I also remember a singer tossing off a gorgeous heartfelt melody and then dramatically throwing down a prop. Then at another point a rock guitarist went into a wild frenzy. The evening was so fresh and exciting, it reminded me of a happening in the 60’s when one never knew what was coming next.
With their upcoming show, VioLens loosely based on four children’s morality tales, VIA promises to shock, yet make one think. I urge you to have a peek into what this exciting, innovative ensemble is up to.”
Hank Dutt, Kronos Quartet
“I had the deep pleasure of seeing VisionIntoArt’s performance last week of excerpts from VioLens and Traveling Songs. I have followed the work of this bold and ambitious ensemble for years, but was struck afresh by their sheer talent and skill, as well as the complexity of the issues they are addressing in the way only art can. I was also struck by the abundance of beauty in this performance. I always love the way they work as an open collective–so unusual in our age, and in the way they do not pander or package to please, they strive with all their might to capture the heart of important issues and open them up before our eyes through wholehearted interdisciplinary work. These works will speak loudly to younger audiences, and will refresh the eyes of traditional audiences. VIA’s work is brimming with ideas, startling images, haunting music, unexpected juxtapositions and insights. VioLens has a particularly beautiful score and comic surprises. It is so rare to see performers who are so accomplished as individuals working in a completely collective way–the result is work that wakes audiences up to remembering what art can aspire to and how rich performances can be.”
Eric Booth National Consultant to Arts Organizations,
Artistic Director of Mentoring (former) Juillliard Faculty (former)