John Dante Prevedini, DMA, MBA (b. 1987) is a contemporary classical composer, educator, and public speaker. Drawing upon a variety of fields of knowledge, his overall work aims to examine unconventional facets of everyday life through a multidisciplinary lens. His resulting work has been performed and showcased internationally, where he has been recognized as a leader in reinventing contemporary classical music practice for the culture of social media (KMFA, Il Sussidiario). The international music press has called his work “beautiful” (Classic FM), “stimulating” (Rivista Musica), and “brilliantly conveyed” (Fanfare Magazine).
About Press Examples Academic Contact/Networks
About: (top menu)
Over the course of my life I have made it my priority to broadly create work that addresses nontraditional perspectives on the observable world. I have found in my studies of language, history, business, and the natural sciences that the experience of “perspective” is fundamental to the “human experience.” I maintain that perspectives are the foundation of understanding and appreciation in our world, and that the benefit in creating new perspectives is the increase in our capacity for that understanding and appreciation. Using this premise, I draw on the emotions, natural landscapes, musical vocabularies, professional mindsets, and cultural outlooks of many settings, both historical and contemporary. Though my method is often experimental and involves assimilating and blending many existing conventions, my process is deliberately non-formulaic. I strive to preserve an organic quality in my art — one that remains intact with a complete identity of its own, even when synthesized from various sources of inspiration. My concept of compositional innovation in music goes beyond the obvious realm of novel sounds into the less obvious realm of how more traditional sounds can be reorganized in unique ways to ask new questions. I maintain that innovation can proceed in a manner that is omnidirectional and not exclusively “forward.”
My goal in using this approach is to create broad art that encourages audiences and participants to continuously reexamine (and reflect on) the perspectives around them or within themselves, wherever and whatever those perspectives may be. This includes my public talks, which are similarly holistic and synergistic. Above all else I try to help audiences experience new constructive viewpoints on the issues and problems of the day.
My output of over 200 musical compositions to date spans many different forms, instrumentations, and styles. They include works for the following instruments and ensembles:
• Piano
• Woodwinds
• Strings
• Brass
• Percussion
• Concert band
• Orchestra
• Choir
• Jazz lead sheet
• Solo voice + piano
• Open ensemble
• Electronic / fixed media
My compositions to date also include the following genres:
• Symphonies
• Operas
• Film scores (shorts)
• Sacred music
• Marches
• Art songs / song cycles / songwriting
• Chamber music
• Commemorative / ceremonial music
• Etudes / student music
• Community music
• Open-form pieces
• Augenmusik (eye music)
• Experimental genres / music for social media
The following traditions have been especially influential in my work:
• Western art music (ancient through contemporary)
• Various non-western musical traditions
• Broadway and film music
• Popular music
My vocal works include settings of both original and preexisting texts, in multiple languages (English, Latin, Spanish, Italian, Georgian, and Mandarin Chinese).
My writings on music include the following genres:
• Analytical essays
• Music journalism, music criticism / reviews, and interviews
• Program notes
• Liner notes
Press: (top menu)
2024 – October 15: (OperaWire [New York, NY]) feature on the premiere of my opera Mascagni a Cerignola and my broader compositional practice of Augenmusik (https://operawire.com/the-worlds-first-augenmusik-opera-mascagni-a-cerignola-premieres/)
2023 – March 15: (Fanfare Magazine [New York, NY]) interview about my compositional practice of Augenmusik and the release of my solo piano album On Liberty – An Augenmusik Piano Suite, including a review of the album (http://www.fanfarearchive.com/articles/atop/46_5/4650360.aa_Augenmusik_Composer_John.html)
2022 – December 20: (Perennial Music and Arts [Geneva, IL]) interview about my work in Augenmusik and research into the genre’s role in music education and digital-era music composition (https://www.perennialmusicandarts.com/post/an-interview-with-composer-john-dante-prevedini)
2021 – July 13: (Interlocutor Magazine [New York, NY]) interview about my experimental work creating visual music for the culture of social media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including developing a structural (rather than decorative) practice of Augenmusik (https://interlocutorinterviews.com/new-blog/2021/7/13/john-dante-prevedini-interview-sight-music-selfie)
2021 – March 1: (Rivista Musica [Italy]) feature article on my experimental work composing music for social media during the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 – January 31: (Il Sussidiario [Italy]) feature article on my experimental work composing music for social media during the COVID-19 pandemic (https://www.ilsussidiario.
2021 – January 1: (Classical Music Daily [UK]) participation in international roundtable discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on the world of classical music, including a discussion of my article “How Audiences See the World: Reinventing music for social media during the COVID-19 pandemic” (https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2021/01/january.htm)
2020 – November 1: (KMFA 89.5 [Austin, TX]) feature on the composition “Selfie” for solo piano (https://kmfa.org/programs/18-staccato/episodes/5163-a-selfie-composition)
2020 – August 26: (Classic FM [London, UK]) feature on the composition “Selfie” for solo piano (https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/selfie-transcription/)
2015 – July 30: (Jamestown Press) feature on concert/lecture of original piano music for BridgeFest concert series in Jamestown, Rhode Island (https://www.jamestownpress.com/articles/classical-pianist-to-perform-thursday/)
2014 – May: (Options Magazine) (p. 8) feature on commissioning of choral composition for AIDS Quilt Rhode Island (https://issuu.com/optionsri/docs/may_2014_forweb)
Examples: (top menu)
FEATURED COMPOSITION (2024 OPERA)
October 5, 2024: the premiere of Mascagni a Cerignola, the world’s first Augenmusik (“eye music”) opera, the video of which can be seen here. This collaborative project is the result of over a year’s worth of work, and my team is thrilled to be able to share it (music: John Dante Prevedini, libretto: Raffaele Sorbo, singers: Jared Alexander Wise and Allison Messier, piano: J. D. Prevedini).
(The following are audio samples. To view score samples, including my nontraditional “visual” music, visit the Score Gallery).
FEATURED COMPOSITION (2022 ALBUM)
On Liberty: VIII. Opportunity: On Liberty is a transcription of the Statue of Liberty into notated music for a nine-movement piano suite in a one-page score; furthermore, each line of notated music represents a separate movement which is a reflection on a different aspect of the concept of “liberty” in society. Musically, the form of each movement is a theme on which variations are to be improvised. A full-album performance recording (46 minutes) of the entire suite is available through Arpaviva Recordings, released on September 23, 2022. The excerpt below is from the eighth movement, titled “Opportunity”. More performance recordings here. (More information here).
FEATURED COMPOSITION
Fantasia Piacentina: commissioned for harp or piano, variations on the traditional melody “Giga Piacentina” from Piacenza, Italy. The composition is dedicated to the people of Piacenza and their resilience in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic (the version below is for piano; a harp performance by Davide Burani can be found here).
CHAMBER MUSIC
Downstream: for piano quartet (piano, violin, viola, cello), commissioned and performed by the Avery Ensemble. Winner of Merit Award at New York’s Tribeca New Music Festival, 2018.
Six Thirty: for clarinet and marimba
“Sanctus” from The Providence Mass: originally for mixed choir and piano (arranged here for piano and cello)
Euphonium Suite: for euphonium and piano (three movements: I. Fanfare, II. Chorale, III. March)
Against: for piano quintet, commissioned and performed by J. Han, M. Duffett, J. Bolmer, K. Calebaugh, and R. Sun.
CHORAL MUSIC
The Rhodora: for SATB choir on a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Commissioned and performed by Pilgrim Festival Chorus, Plymouth, MA.
Make a Joyful Noise: for SATB choir and organ. Commissioned and performed by the choir of the West Avon Congregational Church, Avon, CT.
A Quilt Upon the Earth: for men’s choir with original lyrics by the composer, commissioned by AIDS Quilt Rhode Island and sung by PGMC
ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
Awakening: for orchestra, taken from Mvt. I of Dust to Dust (Second Symphony), performed by the Foot in the Door Ensemble
Piano Concerto No. 1: for piano and string orchestra (a single-movement work)
SOLO PIANO
Lyme Sonata: for solo piano (Mvt. I: “Agitato”, Mvt. II: “Cantabile”, Mvt. III: “Risoluto”)
Lost Days: for solo piano
Charlestown Beach: for solo piano
A Light exists in Spring: solo piano version (arrangement of original art song setting after Dickinson)
Sisyphus: for solo piano. Composition inspired by the king in Greek mythology. According to legend, Sisyphus was condemned to spend eternity repeatedly pushing a boulder up a hill, only to have it fall back down again each time. The music, like Sisyphus, tries every which way to reach a goal that can never be attained. Through the strife, however, the music grows and evolves into a complex tapestry of rhythms, melodies, and harmonies. Hence, the music overcomes the curse of its own futility.
ELECTRONIC
Water Study 1: for fixed media
Mindwander: for fixed media (after H. W. Longfellow)
OPERA
The Cockpit: an opera on the flight recorder transcript of United 93, in one continuous scene (excerpts)
“Crab Canon” (interlude from The Cockpit in which a melody harmonizes with a reversed version of itself)
The New Normal: an open-form opera for open ensemble, written for virtual collaboration and online performance during the COVID-19 pandemic (audio demo)
Grayblue: A Social Media Opera: opera in two acts, with an original libretto by the composer (excerpt from an instrumental interlude). The story takes place in a dystopian future world where all communication occurs through social media and in-person communication is forbidden. One day, two people meet face-to-face by accident and fall in love at first sight, prompting the collective rage of the online community (alternate subtitle styling: #asocialmediaopera).
Academic: (top menu)
I. Study
- B.A. (Music, Biochemistry/Cellular/Molecular Biology, East Asian Studies). Connecticut College.
- M.B.A. (Management). Salve Regina University.
- Master of Music [M.M.] (Music Composition). University of Rhode Island.
- Doctor of Musical Arts [D.M.A.] (Music Composition with doctoral minors in Music History and Music Theory). University of Hartford Hartt School.
II. Teaching/Education
- Instructor for Basic Musicianship (MUS 111). Fall 2013-Fall 2014, University of Rhode Island.
- Assistant for music theory (tonal and post-tonal), ear training/sight singing, concert band. Fall 2013-Spring 2015. University of Rhode Island.
- Instructor for Music Theory Fundamentals (TH 110) and Chromatic Harmony (TH 112). Fall 2017-Spring 2018, University of Hartford Hartt School.
- Independent tutoring in music theory, music history, and music composition.
- Public speaking and lecturing (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts), 2014-present.
III. Research/Publications
- Georgian Symphony: A Vector for Cultural Codes (Ethnographic study of sacred music in the Transcaucasian Georgian diaspora). Connecticut College undergraduate honors thesis.
- Sectionalism of Modal Cadences in the Early Baroque: The Tonal Implications of Pre-Tonal Harmony. (Historical/Quantitative research on the distribution of secondary modal cadences over the span of the seventeenth century and their relationship with emerging concepts of tonal theory). University of Rhode Island.
- An Analysis of Existing Elementary Classroom Music Composition Pedagogy And the Potential For Its Use In the Music Composition Studio (Qualitative research on the use and efficacy of the studio format on music composition education in the elementary school age.) J. Rametta and J. Prevedini. University of Rhode Island.
- Special Project in Music Composition: The Cockpit, for piano, trumpet, trombone, drum set, and eight voices. An operatic setting of the flight recorder transcript from United Airlines Flight 93. University of Rhode Island.
- Inclusion of Lyme Sonata on Sustain: Works for Solo Piano & Percussion Instruments, a contemporary classical compilation album. Released 2019 (Navona Records, catalog 6207).
- Grayblue: A Social Media Opera. 70-minute chamber opera in two acts based on an original libretto. University of Hartford Hartt School.
- How Audiences See the World: Reinventing music for social media during the COVID-19 pandemic. Article published in Classical Music Daily (U.K.). December 19, 2020 (https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2020/12/socialmedia.htm).
- Metamorphosis of a Georgian Soul (analytical review of the complete symphonies of Giya Kancheli as presented in a new box set). Article published in Classical Music Daily (U.K.). January 23, 2021 (https://www.classicalmusicdaily.com/2021/01/kancheli.htm).
- Augenmusik as an Audience-Building Tool (presentation for the national conference of the Society of Composers, Inc.). May 28, 2022.
- On Liberty – an Augenmusik Piano Suite; full-album recording of original composition and performance. Release date: September 23, 2022 (Arpaviva Recordings, catalog AVDL004). More information here.
- Augenmusik as a Digital-Age Art Form (presentation for the Biennial Baltic Musicological Conference, hosted by the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Vilnius, Lithuania). October 8, 2022.
IV. Honors/Awards
- Marjorie Wells Lybolt Award in Chinese. Connecticut College.
- Sulin Ma Prize for Chinese. Connecticut College.
- Paul Abel Schwartz Memorial Prize for Chemistry. Connecticut College.
- Honors and Distinction in Music. Connecticut College.
- Distinction in East Asian Studies. Connecticut College.
- Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society in Business. Salve Regina University.
- Livingston/Zitkin Graduate Award for Research in Music. University of Rhode Island.
- Merit Award for Downstream (piano quartet), Tribeca New Music Festival, New York, 2018.
- Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society in Music. University of Hartford Hartt School.
- Doctoral music theory teaching fellow, 2017-2018, University of Hartford Hartt School.
V. Other Media
Contact / Networks: (top menu)
John Prevedini
(common misspellings: Previdini, Prevendini)
Email: prevedini.music@gmail.com
John Prevedini