Preston Stahly is a composer and producer who pursued academic training at Indiana University and the University of Michigan, where he received a bachelor’s degree in composition with a minor in philosophy, followed by a master’s degree in composition. His principal teachers include William Albright, Leslie Bassett, William Bolcom, Ross Lee Finney, Eugene Kurtz, Barton McLean, and George B. Wilson.  In 1982 he was awarded a Charles Ives scholarship from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters for his Chimera, a three-part work for orchestra. 

As a composer in New York City he has written chamber, vocal, and symphonic works, and has also written music for film (Robert Altman’s Secret Honor) and television (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Children’s Television Workshop).  His concert works focus on acoustic and electro-acoustic techniques with a wide variety of instrumentation ranging from solo and chamber works to film and video.  Recent commissioned projects include Sapphire for violin and electronic track (2010) for violinist Mary Rowell; Burn Rate for piano and electronic track (2012) for pianist Geoffrey Burleson; Pleiades for violin and electronics (2013) for violinist Zach Brock; Igneous Rex (a full-dome animated project) for I-Max and orchestral score premiered at the Reuben Fleet Science Center in San Diego in 2014; Taffrail  (a duo for pianist Eleonor Sandresky and violinist Mary Rowell in 2016); and Honey Smack (for the ensemble Classical Jam) premiered in 2019 at The Cell theater in NYC.  As a dark sky enthusiast with a passion to explore our connection to the universe, he has combined music and astrophotography to bring audiences closer to art and the cosmos. 

He is a co-founder of the Tribeca New Music Festival from its inception in 2001, and spearheaded the Avant Pop movement in NYC, focusing on a new classical music infused with American pop culture. The press has praised the series saying, “The success of the Tribeca New Music Festival no doubt stems both from high-quality performances and from its eclectic, anti-elitist ‘avant pop’ programming ethos.”—The New York Times, and “The reigning aesthetic, dubbed ‘the emerging avant pop’ by artistic director Preston Stahly, welcomes a wide variety of composers, united by creative engagement with popular culture.” —Steve Smith, TimeOut NY.

He is currently the artistic and executive director of Tribeca New Music, Inc.
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