Lawrence Dillon@Sequenza21.com

"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. Three disks of his music are due out in 2010 on the Bridge, Albany and Naxos labels. In the past year, he has had commissions from the Emerson String Quartet, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Mansfield Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, the Salt Lake City Symphony, the Ravinia Festival, the Daedalus String Quartet, the Kenan Institute for the Arts, the University of Utah and the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra.

Although he lost 50% of his hearing in a childhood illness, Dillon 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 University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he has served as Music Director of the Contemporary Ensemble, Assistant Dean of Performance, and Interim Dean of the School of Music. He was the Featured American Composer in the February 2006 issue of Chamber Music magazine.


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Thursday, April 07, 2005
Twenty-first Century Residencies

When I took charge of the Composition Department here in 2000, the first thing I did was secure funding to establish the NCSA Twenty-first Century Residencies program, through which we bring a major new music figure or ensemble each year. Here’s what we’ve done so far:

2000-01: Composer Bernard Rands. Performance of String Quartet No. 2 (1994), Memo 8 (2000) and Concertino for Oboe (1996), with guest oboist Jacqueline LeClair.

2001-2: eighth blackbird. Music by George Perle, Frederic Rzewski, Daniel Kellogg, Minimum Security Composers Collective.

2002-2003: Speculum Musicae. Music by Mario Davidovsky, Christopher Winders, Charles Wourinen.

2003-2004: Composer William Bolcom. Premiere of String Quartet No. 11 (2003) to celebrate the opening of Watson Chamber Music Hall.

This season we’re bringing the Da Capo Chamber Players for a residency -- I will be picking them up at the airport this evening. Schedule:

FRIDAY 8 APRIL

Outreach: Forsyth County Day Care: 1:30

Instrumental classes: 7:30 pm
  • Patricia Spencer: Contemporary Flute Repertoire and Extended Techniques
  • Meighan Stoops: Professional Opportunities for Clarinetists
  • David Bowlin: Violin Master Class
  • Andre Emilianov: Cello Master Class
  • Blair McMillen: Piano Master Class
SATURDAY 9 APRIL: Watson Hall

10 am – 1 pm, Open Dress Rehearsal
7:30 pm, Concert

SUNDAY 10 APRIL: Watson Hall

Recording Session for student composers:
  • Gregory Miles Hoffman (Graduate 1): Unine Emamesilane
  • Dylan Zola (College 1): From the Head
  • Joseph Edwards (College 1): idolini
  • Felix Ventouras (College 2): Mystery
  • J.E. Rose (Professional Artist’s Certificate) Quintet No. 2
  • Justin Poindexter (College 3): Photograph Quartet
  • William Stevens (College 4): Capriccio
Lunch with Da Capo and Composition Department

2:00 Internet 2 Session
Da Capo Chamber Players Informance on John Harbison’s “Songs America Loves To Sing”

The recording session will be a great opportunity for the students involved, who are used to having their peers play their music, to get direct feedback from professionals who are unfamiliar with their work. The Internet 2 session will include several other schools, allowing for questions and discussion in real time on a new work by John Harbison.

I’ll be very busy hosting/shuttling/trouble-shooting (and conducting) over the coming days, but I will give a full report as I’m able. Some parts of the residency will undoubtedly be spectacular, and there may be some disappointments. We’ll see. I’m curious to hear about similar guest residencies at other schools, since I’m always looking for ways to make this program work as effectively as possible.