Silvina Milstein was born in Buenos Aires and now lives in Cambridge. At Glasgow University her main composition teachers were Judith Weir and Lyell Cresswell. At Cambridge University she studied under Alexander Goehr and later held fellowships at Jesus College and King’s College. She is a Professor of Music at King's College London.
Her compositions use evocative gestures that draw on the vernacular music of Buenos Aires, a procedure which she evolved in música ciudadana (1995) and a media luz (2000). These pieces are like kaleidoscopic collages made out of evocative fragments of characteristic rhythms, turns of phrase and sonorities from Argentinian popular music. In her recent music she has explored musical forms arising from heightened states of awareness, borrowing from a wealth of artistic media and spiritual traditions.
Silvina's music has been played by some of the leading orchestras, ensembles and performers in Britain and abroad, including Ensemble Modern, London Sinfonietta, Lontano, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, the BBC SSO, BBC Singers, the Endellion, Darragh Morgan, Helen Tunstall, Caroline Balding and Jane Manning. In 2020 Silvina’s of gold and shadows cycle was released by LORELT in two volumes.