Lawrence Dillon
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Dillon is an American
composer, and currently Composer in Residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts
. His music has a wide range of expression, generally within a tonal idiom notable both for its rhythmic propulsiveness and a strong lyrical element. Frequent use of ostinato
figures and ostinato rhythms gives his music a profile of clarity and smooth continuity.
, and in classes with Milton Babbitt
, Elliott Carter
, David Diamond
, and Roger Sessions
. Other teachers have included Edwin Finckel
and James Sellars. As a student, he won an ASCAP Young Composers Award and first prize in the annual CRS New Music Competition. Upon graduation, he was appointed to the Juilliard faculty.
. He is currently involved in a long term project, the Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle.
Dillon's recent major works include
Dillon's blog is featured on Sequenza21.com, which won the 2005 ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer, and currently Composer in Residence at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts , formerly the North Carolina School of the Arts, is a public coeducational arts conservatory in Winston-Salem, North Carolina that grants high school, undergraduate and graduate degrees. It is one of the seventeen constituent campuses of the...
. His music has a wide range of expression, generally within a tonal idiom notable both for its rhythmic propulsiveness and a strong lyrical element. Frequent use of ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
figures and ostinato rhythms gives his music a profile of clarity and smooth continuity.
Education and early career
Partially deaf from birth, Dillon was the youngest of eight children raised by a widowed mother. Intrigued by his siblings' piano lessons, he began his own at age seven, and developed a habit of composing a new work each week. In 1985, he became the youngest composer to earn a doctorate at The Juilliard School, winning the Gretchaninoff Prize upon graduation. He studied privately with Vincent PersichettiVincent Persichetti
Vincent Ludwig Persichetti was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, Persichetti was a native of Philadelphia...
, and in classes with Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter
Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States. After a neoclassical phase, he went on to write atonal, rhythmically complex music...
, David Diamond
David Diamond (composer)
David Leo Diamond was an American composer of classical music.-Life and career:He was born in Rochester, New York and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Eastman School of Music under Bernard Rogers, also receiving lessons from Roger Sessions in New York City and Nadia Boulanger in...
, and Roger Sessions
Roger Sessions
Roger Huntington Sessions was an American composer, critic, and teacher of music.-Life:Sessions was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a family that could trace its roots back to the American revolution. His mother, Ruth Huntington Sessions, was a direct descendent of Samuel Huntington, a signer of...
. Other teachers have included Edwin Finckel
Edwin Finckel
Edwin A. Finckel was a jazz performer and arranger and a composer of songs and classical music.-Biography:Finckel was born in Washington D.C. as the youngest of six children. His father was a patent attorney and both his parents were musical...
and James Sellars. As a student, he won an ASCAP Young Composers Award and first prize in the annual CRS New Music Competition. Upon graduation, he was appointed to the Juilliard faculty.
Recent career
In 1990, Dillon was offered the position of Assistant Dean at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he is now Composer in Residence. His works are published by American Composers Editions, a subdivision of BMIBroadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
. He is currently involved in a long term project, the Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle.
Dillon's recent major works include
- String Quartet No. 2: Flight (2002), premiered by the Daedalus Quartet;
- Amadeus ex machina (2001), given its Russian premiere by the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic;
- Wright Flight (2003) for orchestra, projected images and three strands of narrative, commissioned by the 2003 Illuminations festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park;
- Revenant: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra (2005), premiered by hornist David Jolley with the composer conducting;
- What Happened (2005), for piano quartet, premiered by the Atlantic Ensemble;
- String Quartet No. 4: The Infinite Sphere (2009), commissioned by the Daedalus String Quartet;
- String Quartet No. 5: Through the Night (2009), commissioned by the Emerson String Quartet.
Dillon's blog is featured on Sequenza21.com, which won the 2005 ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award.