Lawrence Dillon

Biography

Composer Lawrence Dillon (b. 1959) creates works that connect past and present in attractive and unexpected ways, provoking Gramophone to exclaim, "Just when you thought the string quartet may have reached the edge of sonic possibilities, along comes a composer who makes something novel, whimsical and haunting of the genre." His music is characterized by a keen sensitivity to color, a mastery of form, and what the Louisville Courier-Journal has called a "compelling, innate soulfulness." Despite losing 50% of his hearing in a childhood illness, 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 immediately 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.

Dillon's music, in the words of American Record Guide, is "lovely...austere...vivid and impressive." Three recordings of his music were released in 2010-2011 on the Bridge, Albany and Naxos labels. His works have been commissioned and premiered in the last five seasons by the Emerson String Quartet, Le Train Bleu, the Ravinia Festival, the Daedalus String Quartet, the Lincoln Trio, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Cassatt String Quartet, the Mansfield Symphony, the Boise Philharmonic, Wintergreen Summer Arts Festival, the Salt Lake City Symphony, the Quartetto di Sassofoni d'Accademia, the University of Utah, Boise Philharmonic, the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Idyllwild Symphony Orchestra.

ACE Publications

110 title(s)
Composer Title SCORING/INSTRUMENTATION Year
Lawrence Dillon ADYTUM
flute with string quartet
Lawrence Dillon AMADEUS EX MACHINA for chamber orchestra 1 Flute (dbl Picc), 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 1 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 2 Horns in F, Strings
Lawrence Dillon Anonymous TV Flight Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon
Lawrence Dillon APPENDAGE for soprano and chamber ensemble
soprano, Bb clarinet, tenor saxophone, violin, viola, cello, piano
Lawrence Dillon ASCENDING SPIRAL fl, hp
Lawrence Dillon BACCHUS CHACONNE 1 duo for violin and viola
vn and vla
Lawrence Dillon BACCHUS CHACONNE 2 for two violins 2 vln
Lawrence Dillon Bear Tongue Attack Flute, Horn, and Bassoon
Lawrence Dillon BIG BROTHERS
Trio: sop/bar sax, vib, pf
Lawrence Dillon BLOSSOM Triple String Quartet
6 Violins, 3 Violas, 3 Cellos
Lawrence Dillon BLOWN AWAY wind ens: pic/2-2-Ebcl-3-bcl-2-2asax-tsax-barsax; 4-3-3-1; timp, 3perc
Lawrence Dillon Blur Solo Clarinet and Clarinet Quartet (3 Clarinets in Bb and 1 Bass Clarinet)
Lawrence Dillon BRIO Triple String Quartet
6 Violins, 3 Violas, 3 Cellos
Lawrence Dillon BROOMSTICK violin, piano
Lawrence Dillon CHICANE piano
Lawrence Dillon CHILD'S EYE Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, Alto Saxophone, and Bassoon
Lawrence Dillon CHILD'S PLAY flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn
Lawrence Dillon Desert Squeezebox Gallop Oboe, Clarinet, and Horn
Lawrence Dillon DEVOTION
flute with violin, viola, cello
Lawrence Dillon DIRGES AND DANCES for piano trio
VIOLIN, 'CELLO, PIANO
Lawrence Dillon DISRUPTION brass quintet: two Trumpets in C, Horn in F, Trombone, Tuba
Lawrence Dillon DISTANCE ten horns

Additional Works