"There are no two points so distant from one another that they cannot be connected by a single straight line -- and an infinite number of curves."
Composer Lawrence Dillon has produced an extensive body of work, from brief solo pieces to a full-length opera. Partially deaf from birth, Dillon grew up in a bustling household with seven older siblings. He began composing as soon as he started piano lessons at the age of seven. In 1985, he became the youngest composer to earn a doctorate at The Juilliard School, and was shortly thereafter appointed to the Juilliard faculty. Dillon is now Composer in Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he has served as Music Director of the Contemporary Ensemble, Assistant Dean of Performance and Dean of the School of Music.
Dillon's music, in the words of American Record Guide, is "lovely...austere...vivid and impressive." His works are recorded by Albany Records, Channel Crossings and CRS, and published by American Composers Editions. He is represented by Jeffrey James Arts Consulting.
The credibility of composers who also serve as critics has often been questioned. There is a pretty fine article on the topic in NewMusicBox this month by Joshua Kosman. The argument goes something like this: Composers have artistic and professional agendas that limit their ability to listen objectively.
I find this line of argument entirely persuasive. A composer invests a tremendous amount of time and energy in pursuing a specific artistic vision, which is bound to leave blind spots where other artistic visions might be found.
On the other hand, composers have valuable perspectives on the experience of music, being involved on the ground floor, so to speak. Their viewpoints, though they may be biased, can be very insightful.
The most questionable practice is the composer who conducts the premiere of a new work, then reviews the concert. Certainly a composer describing his/her own piece and performance cannot be trusted at all.
On the other hand, if you know the reviewer has such an intimate involvement with the material being reviewed, then you certainly don’t have to fear a hidden agenda: The review is bound to be intensely subjective, with all of the benefits and drawbacks that implies.
So watch for a review of the premiere of Revenant on this page in the coming days. I will do my best to make it pan-jective (combining the best of sub- and ob-).
And you can read it with a grain of salt.
posted by Lawrence Dillon
7:56 AM
