"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 been in Japan for 24 hours, and I never want to go home again. Not because Tokyo is so wonderful, just because I don't think I can live through that 22-hour trip (door-to-door) again.
But seriously, things here are off to a wonderful start. Japanese officials, from customs to school guards, have been without exception gracious and helpful every step of the way. I'm in a pleasant hotel, right around the corner from an excellent fresh food market, among other things. Speaking of food, I've had several delicious meals already, which is not the way things usually are when I travel in unfamiliar places -- usually the first few meals are pretty awful, until I figure out a bit of how to get what I'm looking for.
As for the trip, less said the better. I know a number of people who make the trans-Pacific journey a couple times a month, and I have newfound respect for what they go through. They must have some pretty thick scar tissue over the wounds to their sleep-patterns.