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Mr. Prestamo was born in New York City and began studying piano at age six. When he was eight, he was granted a full scholarship to study at the French-American School of Music in Manhattan. Throughout high school, he continued to receive a scholarship from the Arts and Letters Foundation and the Billy Rose Foundation for lessons twice a week with Natalya Mark. During this time he had the opportunity to perform at concert halls all around Manhattan including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Florence Gould Hall, The Koskciusko Foundation, The Colony Club and Steinway Hall, all before he was sixteen.
In 2010, Joseph graduated with a Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, where he studied piano with Morey Ritt and composition with Bruce Saylor.
During his four years at Queens College, he received performances by the Second Instrumental Unit (David Fulmer, director), the Queens College Choir (James John, director), the New Music Singers (Cynthia Powell, director), the Dalhousie Quartet, Reona Ito and students of the Aaron Copland School of Music. He has been a part of notable festivals and summer programs such as the Festival of Contemporary Music, SCI (Queens College, 2007), the Institute and Festival of Contemporary Performance (Mannes College, The New School, 2008), Nova Scotia Young Composers Program (Dalhousie University, 2009). Awards at Queens College include the Molly Weinstein Memorial Award, Discimus ut Serviamus Award, the Gabriel Frontier Memorial Award, the Karol Rathaus Award, the Presidential Achievers Award and the Presser Foundation Scholarship Award.
Visit Mr. Prestamo online at www.josephprestamo.com.
The Winning Work
Joseph Prestamo's composition, Sketches, is a fascinating, sophisticated set of five short pieces: Improvisation, Invention, Scherzo, Intermezzo, and March. The composer himself says of the music:
It is always a pleasure for me to write for the piano because, over the years, it has always been a very personal source of inspiration. Playing the piano is like speaking with an old friend, one who knows you very well. These five character pieces experiment with textures, moods and timbres created on the piano.