Tony Silverstri is as good as it gets in the world of lyric writing for choral music. His “Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine” was even played in space by astronauts on space shuttle missions. When people say his works are out of this world, they really mean it.
Charles Anthony Silvestri – Lyricist
Charles Anthony Silvestri specializes in providing poetry for choral composers. He enjoys the creative challenges and rewards of the collaborative process, and has provided lyrics for many composers in different stages of their careers and for a wide variety of commissions and occasions.
“Collaboration between composer and poet is magic,” Silvestri argues. “It opens for the composer opportunities for organic and dynamic creation not possible with previously published poetry, and gives the poet the thrill and responsibility that his words will be sung – not read – and will be heard attached to an emotional sound track. There’s magic and power in the marriage of words and music.” His collaborations with celebrated composer Eric Whitacre have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of sheet music, have been sung by thousands of choirs around the world, and have been heard on television and radio, and in magnificent spaces such as the Sydney Opera House, Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, the National Cathedral, King’s College, Westminster Abbey, and Il Gesú.
In addition to writing choral lyrics, Silvestri is also an accomplished artist/painter, specializing in replicating Medieval manuscript illumination and recreating the techniques and materials of Gothic and Renaissance painters. He is a veteran teacher with two decades of experience teaching kindergarten through college. He has earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in Ancient and Medieval History from Loyola Marymount University and the University of Southern California. Silvestri is on the History faculty of Washburn University of Topeka and makes his home in Lawrence, Kansas.
Read more about Tony Silvestri and his work at www.charlesanthonysilvestri.com.
