First Round Voting for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards begins October 4!
For your GRAMMY consideration, composer Paola Prestini presents “The Old Man and The Sea,” the world premiere recording of the first-ever operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel, out now from VIA Records. Categories include Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Opera Recording.
Prestini's adaptation follows the final fever dream of the famed author in his last days, as he reflects on portraits of his life mixed with images from his masterpiece work “The Old Man and The Sea” - one of the most important books of 20th century American literature.
This multi-layered interpretation of the story combines twin threads of Hemingway’s life with the original story. The themes include the industrial exploitation of the very oceans Hemingway mined for inspiration, poeticized elements like his love of baseball and Joe DiMaggio, his deeply intimate letters to Marlene Dietrich, and more - all set to a tapestry of cello, percussion and electronics.
Click the thumbnail below to view the trailer for "The Old Man and The Sea":
“Otherworldly…outright gorgeous... music of candid vulnerability,"
–The New York Times
“Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea is an opera of layers… Themes cascade together even as they bridge disparate musical motifs ... flowing into a swirling gyre of fate, dreams and emotion worthy of the dark blue depths they plumb.”
–The Berkshire Eagle
The opera is scored for percussion, chorus, electronics and cello, and was co-created by Royce Vavrek (libretto) and Karmina Šilec (director) with creative producer Beth Morrison of Beth Morrison Projects.
The project includes performances by acclaimed cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and was conducted by Mila Henry. Armando Contreras is featured as Hemingway/Santagio, with GRAMMY-nominated soprano Measha Brueggergosman Lee as La Mar, countertenor Rodolfo Girón as Manolin, and soprano Yvette Keongplaying the role of La Virgen del Cobre. The piece also features the GRAMMY-winning Phoenix Chorale, who bear witness to the drama of Hemingway's existential questions unfolding onstage. The live album is mixed and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Ryan Streber of Octaven, and is produced by Prestini and Zeigler, featuring cover art design by Scotty Devendorf (bassist for rock supergroup The National). Lead commissioning support for The Old Man and the Sea was provided by ASU Gammage in association with Joan Cremin. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina, VisionIntoArt, Krannert Center of Performing Arts, and Jill & Bill Steinberg.
About Paola Prestini:
Composer Paola Prestini has cultivated a uniquely expansive artistic voice, through works that transcend genre and discipline and projects whose global impact reverberates far beyond the walls of the concert hall. Prestini was named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post, one of the top 100 Composers in the World by National Public Radio, and one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America. As Co-Founder of National Sawdust, she has collaborated with luminaries like poet Robin Coste Lewis, visual artists Julie Mehretu and Nick Cave, and musical legends David Byrne, Philip Glass and Renée Fleming, and her works have been performed throughout the world with leading institutions like the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, London's Barbican Center, Mexico's Bellas Artes, and many more.
Lyrics & Cover Art | VIA | Paola Prestini
First Round Voting for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards begins October 4!
For your GRAMMY consideration, composer Paola Prestini presents “The Old Man and The Sea,” the world premiere recording of the first-ever operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel, out now from VIA Records. Categories include Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Opera Recording.
Prestini's adaptation follows the final fever dream of the famed author in his last days, as he reflects on portraits of his life mixed with images from his masterpiece work “The Old Man and The Sea” - one of the most important books of 20th century American literature.
This multi-layered interpretation of the story combines twin threads of Hemingway’s life with the original story. The themes include the industrial exploitation of the very oceans Hemingway mined for inspiration, poeticized elements like his love of baseball and Joe DiMaggio, his deeply intimate letters to Marlene Dietrich, and more - all set to a tapestry of cello, percussion and electronics.
Click the thumbnail below to view the trailer for "The Old Man and The Sea":
“Otherworldly…outright gorgeous... music of candid vulnerability,"
–The New York Times
“Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea is an opera of layers… Themes cascade together even as they bridge disparate musical motifs ... flowing into a swirling gyre of fate, dreams and emotion worthy of the dark blue depths they plumb.”
–The Berkshire Eagle
The opera is scored for percussion, chorus, electronics and cello, and was co-created by Royce Vavrek (libretto) and Karmina Šilec (director) with creative producer Beth Morrison of Beth Morrison Projects.
The project includes performances by acclaimed cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and was conducted by Mila Henry. Armando Contreras is featured as Hemingway/Santagio, with GRAMMY-nominated soprano Measha Brueggergosman Lee as La Mar, countertenor Rodolfo Girón as Manolin, and soprano Yvette Keongplaying the role of La Virgen del Cobre. The piece also features the GRAMMY-winning Phoenix Chorale, who bear witness to the drama of Hemingway's existential questions unfolding onstage. The live album is mixed and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Ryan Streber of Octaven, and is produced by Prestini and Zeigler, featuring cover art design by Scotty Devendorf (bassist for rock supergroup The National). Lead commissioning support for The Old Man and the Sea was provided by ASU Gammage in association with Joan Cremin. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina, VisionIntoArt, Krannert Center of Performing Arts, and Jill & Bill Steinberg.
About Paola Prestini:
Composer Paola Prestini has cultivated a uniquely expansive artistic voice, through works that transcend genre and discipline and projects whose global impact reverberates far beyond the walls of the concert hall. Prestini was named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post, one of the top 100 Composers in the World by National Public Radio, and one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America. As Co-Founder of National Sawdust, she has collaborated with luminaries like poet Robin Coste Lewis, visual artists Julie Mehretu and Nick Cave, and musical legends David Byrne, Philip Glass and Renée Fleming, and her works have been performed throughout the world with leading institutions like the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, London's Barbican Center, Mexico's Bellas Artes, and many more.
Lyrics & Cover Art | VIA | Paola Prestini
First Round Voting for the 2025 GRAMMY Awards begins October 4!
For your GRAMMY consideration, composer Paola Prestini presents “The Old Man and The Sea,” the world premiere recording of the first-ever operatic adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel, out now from VIA Records. Categories include Best Contemporary Classical Composition and Best Opera Recording.
Prestini's adaptation follows the final fever dream of the famed author in his last days, as he reflects on portraits of his life mixed with images from his masterpiece work “The Old Man and The Sea” - one of the most important books of 20th century American literature.
This multi-layered interpretation of the story combines twin threads of Hemingway’s life with the original story. The themes include the industrial exploitation of the very oceans Hemingway mined for inspiration, poeticized elements like his love of baseball and Joe DiMaggio, his deeply intimate letters to Marlene Dietrich, and more - all set to a tapestry of cello, percussion and electronics.
Click the thumbnail below to view the trailer for "The Old Man and The Sea":
“Otherworldly…outright gorgeous... music of candid vulnerability,"
–The New York Times
“Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea is an opera of layers… Themes cascade together even as they bridge disparate musical motifs ... flowing into a swirling gyre of fate, dreams and emotion worthy of the dark blue depths they plumb.”
–The Berkshire Eagle
The opera is scored for percussion, chorus, electronics and cello, and was co-created by Royce Vavrek (libretto) and Karmina Šilec (director) with creative producer Beth Morrison of Beth Morrison Projects.
The project includes performances by acclaimed cellist Jeffrey Zeigler and percussionist Ji Hye Jung, and was conducted by Mila Henry. Armando Contreras is featured as Hemingway/Santagio, with GRAMMY-nominated soprano Measha Brueggergosman Lee as La Mar, countertenor Rodolfo Girón as Manolin, and soprano Yvette Keongplaying the role of La Virgen del Cobre. The piece also features the GRAMMY-winning Phoenix Chorale, who bear witness to the drama of Hemingway's existential questions unfolding onstage. The live album is mixed and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Ryan Streber of Octaven, and is produced by Prestini and Zeigler, featuring cover art design by Scotty Devendorf (bassist for rock supergroup The National). Lead commissioning support for The Old Man and the Sea was provided by ASU Gammage in association with Joan Cremin. Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Carolina Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina, VisionIntoArt, Krannert Center of Performing Arts, and Jill & Bill Steinberg.
About Paola Prestini:
Composer Paola Prestini has cultivated a uniquely expansive artistic voice, through works that transcend genre and discipline and projects whose global impact reverberates far beyond the walls of the concert hall. Prestini was named one of the Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music by the Washington Post, one of the top 100 Composers in the World by National Public Radio, and one of the Top 30 Professionals of the Year by Musical America. As Co-Founder of National Sawdust, she has collaborated with luminaries like poet Robin Coste Lewis, visual artists Julie Mehretu and Nick Cave, and musical legends David Byrne, Philip Glass and Renée Fleming, and her works have been performed throughout the world with leading institutions like the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Opera, London's Barbican Center, Mexico's Bellas Artes, and many more.
Lyrics & Cover Art | VIA | Paola Prestini
