Interview with Sara Siniscalco

Tell us how your experience in St. Louis went between dreams, challenges, choices and what was your thesis topic…

The years at Saint Louis were full of challenges and doubts, but also valuable encounters: I still collaborate and share projects with many people I met there. I was able to study abroad, an experience that made me grow deeply. My thesis? An electronic reworking of a choral work by Pérotin: a challenge, but a way to prove to myself that even a medieval chorus could speak through my sonic universe.

You held an artistic residency at AAMOD. What is it all about?

I participated in the UnArchive art residency. Sounds and Visions, promoted by AAMOD, during which Cacciatori D’Uranio, a film made in collaboration with director Davide Palella, was born. I took care of the whole sound and music component, experimenting a lot creatively. Davide did an extraordinary job on the archival material, resignifying it in a deeply evocative way. After its world premiere at Alice in the City 2025 (Rome Film Festival), the film participates in several already confirmed international festivals.

What are the current projects you are working on and what have been the most significant ones in your journey as a professional?

Currently working as a composer and sound designer for films and audiovisual content for brands, I invest in the project Sinergy Hub and in the sound construction of my album. Notable works include: Cacciatori D’Uranio (composer and sound designer), Never Too Late (Raiplay, music editor and composer and author of two original songs), Bangla – La Serie (Raiplay/Netflix, composer and author of a song) and fashion films for Santoni, Fendi and other brands.

How would you define your sound aesthetic and identity?

My sonic identity comes from the encounter between electronic timbres (synthesizers and organic and non-organic samples) and my voice, which I manipulate and process digitally in creative ways. Also, I really love the sound of distortion and always try to incorporate it into my compositions. Through these sounds I try to delicately and at the same time sonorously narrate emotions (mine or an image’s), creating intense and personal soundscapes.

Sinergy Hub: how did it come about and what is its mission?

Sinergy Hub was born in 2024 by five young professionals from Saint Louis: Marco Moretti, Floris Ciarlariello, Salvatore Iembo, Francesco Ragazzini and myself. We created this collective with the goal of providing a space that promotes networking, sharing and musical experimentation. Among the main activities in our studio: Sinergy Podcast, where we interview music industry professionals such as Mokadelic and Luca Spagnoletti, and Digital Groove events, dedicated to emerging artists.

Five years from now, how and where do you envision yourself as a composer and sound designer?

I dream of working on that film that allows me to really express myself sonically and musically. I want to keep experimenting and discovering new ways of telling my story through sound and music, even outside of images-you never stop evolving and that’s the beauty of it. As for location, I remain open: part of me wants to test myself abroad, but there is also a desire to grow and establish myself here in Italy.

What are your artistic references?

Son Lux, FKA Twigs, Woodkid, Arca, GINEVRA, Daniela Pes, Cristobal Tapia De Veer, Oklou, Apparat, Sevdaliza, Bonobo, Florence + The Machine, Bon Iver, Ólafur Arnalds, and many, many soundtracks.

If you could go back, what would you recommend to Sara student to best approach her education?

I would advise her to always be open and proactive, to listen to lots of music and experiment with sounds as much as possible. To accept that each path has its own time. Of getting to know people in the field, sharing anxieties and doubts. And above all, to hang in there: this profession is made up of challenges, but by working with ethics and fidelity to your sound identity, the results come and you are happier than ever.

Who is your musician of the heart? and why?

Instinctively I would say The 1975, a British electro-pop band that played a key role in my first approach to music production and electronics when I was a teenager. I was struck by the way they blended traditional instruments with synths and electronic sounds. I tried it myself, and here I am.

What is your favorite song that you would take to Noah’s Ark?

Skinny Love by Bon Iver. It is a piece too dense with sensitivity and emotion to be left on the ground.