"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.
I’ve always promised myself I would never write a woodwind quintet. I’ve just never liked how the four-woodwinds-plus-horn combo sounds. And there are so many dreadful pieces written for that combination, I didn’t want to add to the pile of dreck.
But deciding what I am going to do is one thing. Life is another.
I just completed a six-minute woodwind quintet called Child’s play, and I’m astonished at how well it works. For an instrumental grouping that previously never appealed to me, it’s amazing how comfortably it has adapted itself to my language.
What’s next? I’m going to have to take another look at that list of things I’ve promised myself I would never do.
