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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Saturday, December 31, 2005
Recap

The end of 2005 marks the conclusion of the first year of this blog, which has certainly taught me a lot about new music and the world, in the process taking me on an infinite number of curves. That makes it an inescapably appropriate time for the ubiquitous nostalgic assessment of the twelve months gone by.

January – Blog launched on January 2nd.

February – premiere of Revenant for Horn and Orchestra, with David Jolley as the soloist and yours truly conducting and writing the review.

March – Trip to Russia to hear the St. Petersburg Chamber Symphony perform my music and teach a seminar to students at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Reports here, here, here, here, here and here.

AprilHosting the Da Capo Chamber Players.

May – In Paris for the premiere of What Happened: reports here, here, here, here, here and here.

JuneRevisions, Revisions.

July – A chance to reflect on the composer’s role in society

August – Stephen James Dillon arrives, a bit late, much like his father in many ways. He'll probably have his own blog going before long -- his first word was "google."

September – The 2005-06 NCSA’s Composers Forum begins, with fascinating discussions about cultural significance.

OctoberOpen Dream Ensemble takes off from here, here, and here.

November – Students report on the creative process in dance, drama, filmmaking and visual arts.

December – A summary of the year gone by.

It's been a fun year for me here at S21. Here’s wishing you all a peaceful and productive 2006.