About

Gabriella Magnani (aka Long Lost Daughter) is a composer, vocalist, and investigative musician whose work explores the physical, intimate nature of pitch, texture, and timbre. She graduated magna cum laude from Colorado College with a degree in music and in classics-English, and while there, she was the first female musician to complete a composition capstone. In 2016, Magnani worked with late composer Michael Friedman to create the original show “Purple State Purple Haze” in partnership with WNYC and The New Yorker. The following year, she was invited to participate as a composer in the International Summer Academy of Music in Ochsenhausen, Germany. In 2020, she won a grant through MASS MoCA’s 2020 Assets For Artists (A4A) program.

Using music as an investigative tool means approaching each work with specific questions. How might noise be repositioned as music? Can that re-contextualization change our understanding of sound in our daily lives? What can we learn about our relationships with animals through field recordings of animal song? How are ancient stories told and understood in 21st century America, and what can that teach us about our own society and perspective? How can physical sensations (such as chest pain, lightheadedness, or exhaustion) be emulated musically? How can music be a part of understanding our own experience of trauma, loss, and grief?

Magnani has composed for concerts, films, live theater, dance, podcasts, and site-specific installations. She uses unconventional sounds and instruments, including works for orca vocalizations, birdsong, iPhone ringtones, and city sounds, and she often makes use of extended techniques. Magnani is currently based in Brooklyn, where she sings with the New York City Master Chorale, looks at birds, and waits patiently for her train to arrive.

Reach her at g_magnani@outlook.com and on IG @longlost_daughter