Lawrence Dillon

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Lawrence Dillon (born 3 July 1959, Summit, NJ) is an American composer, and currently Composer in Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts. His music has a wide range of expression, generally within a tonal idiom notable both for its rhythmic propulsiveness and a strong lyrical element. Frequent use of ostinato figures and ostinato rhythms gives his music a profile of clarity and smooth continuity.

Dillon's recent major works include

  • String Quartet No. 2: Flight (2002), premiered by the Daedalus Quartet;
  • Amadeus ex machina (2001), given its Russian premiere by the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic;
  • Wright Flight (2003) for orchestra, projected images and three strands of narrative, commissioned by the 2003 Illuminations festival at Roanoke Island Festival Park;
  • Revenant: Concerto for Horn and Orchestra (2005), premiered by hornist David Jolley with the composer conducting.

Partially deaf from birth, Dillon was the youngest of eight children raised by a widowed mother. Intrigued by his siblings' piano lessons, he began his own at age seven, and developed a habit of composing a new work each week. In 1985, he became the youngest composer to earn a doctorate at The Juilliard School, winning the Gretchaninoff Prize upon graduation. He studied privately with Vincent Persichetti, and in classes with Milton Babbitt, Elliott Carter, David Diamond, and Roger Sessions. Other teachers have included Edwin Finckel and James Sellars. As a student, he won an ASCAP Young Composers Award and first prize in the annual CRS New Music Competition. Upon graduation, he was appointed to the Juilliard faculty.

In 1990, Dillon was offered the position of Assistant Dean at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he is now Composer in Residence and conductor of the School of the Arts Contemporary Ensemble. His works are published by American Composers Editions, a subdivision of BMI. He is currently involved in a long term project, the Invisible Cities String Quartet Cycle.

Dillon's blog an infinite number of curves'' is featured on Sequenza21.com, which won the 2005 ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award.

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