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{{Short description|American lyricist, poet, historian (born 1965)}}Charles Anthony "Tony" Silvestri (born 1965)WEB, Charles Anthony Silvestri (b1965),weblink Hyperion Records, 17 June 2022, en, is an American poet and lyricist, and a lecturer in history at Washburn University.WEB, Faculty Profile: Tony Silvestri,weblink www.washburn.edu, Washburn University, 17 June 2022, WEB, Charles Anthony Silvestri,weblink GIA Publications, 17 June 2022, en, WEB, Charles Anthony Silvestri,weblink AGO Seattle 2022, American Guild of Organists, 17 June 2022, en, WEB, Longer Biography,weblink Tony Silvestri, 17 June 2022, en,

Early life and education

Silvestri was born in Las Vegas in 1965. He studied ancient and medieval history at Loyola Marymount University and has a PhD from the University of Southern California, where his doctoral dissertation was a critical edition of some of the writing of medieval English theologian William of Ware.THESIS, PhD, William of Ware's "Quaestiones in IV libros Sententiarum" 2, q. 9: "Utrum repugnet alicui creature, inquantum creata est, fuisse ab eterno" (ca. 1300), Silvestri, Charles Anthony, 1995, University of Southern California,weblink

Lyrics and poetry

He has provided lyrics for several works by choral composer Eric Whitacre. In 2000, he translated into Latin a short poem attributed to Edward Esch, to form the words of Whitacre's Lux Aurumque.WEB, Lux Aurumque – Music Catalog,weblink Eric Whitacre, 17 June 2022, en, Also in 2000, Whitacre had written music to the words of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" and had been "crushed" when the copyright owners forbade this use. He commissioned Silvestri to write new words for the music, which he described as "an enormous task, because I was asking him to not only write a poem that had the exact structure of the Frost, but that would even incorporate key words from "Stopping", like 'sleep'".WEB, Sleep – Music Catalog,weblink Eric Whitacre, 17 June 2022, en, This work, Sleep, was sung by the second iteration of Whitacre's Virtual Choir, has been widely performed, and has been used by grief counselors, especially those working with bereaved children and in conjunction with artist Anne Horjus's 2013 picture-book edition.BOOK, Whitacre, Eric, Silvestri, Charles Anthony, Sleep: 15th Anniversary Edition, Jo-Michael Scheibe Choral Series, 2, On the 15th anniversary of Sleep, WEB, Picture books,weblink Anne Horjus, 17 June 2022, Silvestri's wife Julie died from ovarian cancer in 2005 aged 36. A group of poems he wrote about their relationship, her death, and his grief, together with three poems by her and two by Whitacre, form the words of Whitacre's 2018 The Sacred Veil.WEB, The Sacred Veil,weblink Tony Silvestri, 17 June 2022, en, Includes full text of the poemsWEB, The Sacred Veil – Music Catalog,weblink Eric Whitacre, 17 June 2022, en, NEWS, Gordon, Eric A., 'The Sacred Veil' opens hearts to the poignancy of death and loss,weblink 17 June 2022, People's World, 22 February 2019, Silvestri wrote the libretto for Whitacre's 2001 Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine, based on extracts from Leonardo's notebooks.WEB, Guest Blog: Charles Anthony Silvestri on 'Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine',weblink Eric Whitacre, 17 June 2022, en, 3 May 2008, WEB, Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine – Music Catalog,weblink Eric Whitacre, 17 June 2022, en, This too was published as a picture-book with illustrations by Anne Horjus.Silvestri has also worked with Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, writing lyrics for his works including Dreamweaver (based on Draumkvedet),WEB, Dreamweaver,weblink Ola Gjeilo, 19 June 2022, WEB, Dreamweaver,weblink www.esplanade.com, 19 June 2022, Tundra,WEB, Tundra,weblink Ola Gjeilo, 19 June 2022, and Across the Vast Eternal Sky.WEB, Across the Vast, Eternal Sky,weblink Ola Gjeilo, 19 June 2022, WEB, Silvestri and Gjeilo Add a Twist to the Phoenix Story,weblink Behind the Music, 19 June 2022, 28 March 2022, In 2019, Silvestri published A Silver Thread, a collection of his poetry written over 20 years.

Selected publications

• BOOK, Silvestri, Charles Anthony, A silver thread : the lyric poetry of Charles Anthony Silvestri., 2019, GIA, Chicago, 978-1622773541,
• BOOK, Silvestri, Charles Anthony, Horjus, Anne, Sleep, 2013, Acroterion Books, Lawrence, KS, 978-1480354029,
• BOOK, Silvestri, Charles Anthony, Horjus, Anne, Leonardo dreams of his flying machine, 2020, Acroterion, Lawrence, KS, 9781540068804,

References

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External links

• {{official websiteweblink}}

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