Lawrence Dillon's international presence has blossomed in 2005, with several prominent performances already set for 2006. In February, flutist Ransom Wilson teamed with the Hermitage String Quartet to perform the Russian premiere of Devotion. A month later, Dillon attended the Russian premiere of Amadeus ex machina, performed by the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic at the Shuvalovsky Palace, followed by a bilingual, post-concert talk with Dillon and Sergei Slonimsky. While in Russia, Dillon had a residency at the renowned St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he taught a composition seminar on his work.

Here is a description from Dillon's blog of an encounter with Alexander Radvilovich, a professor at the conservatory:

"A group of five of us sat at a round table and ordered our hot drinks, which the Café Idiot traditionally serves with a complimentary shot of vodka. I don't know if it was the vodka, the brisk walk or the informal surroundings, but Radvilovich warmed up quite a bit, and I was able to ask him more about his work and the contemporary music scene in Russia."

On April 19th, Devotion was performed at the Concert Hall of the House of Science in Kiev, Ukraine. The 2004-05 season ended on a high note, as Dillon traveled to Paris for the premiere of What Happened, a piano quartet performed by the Atlantic Ensemble, at the Maison Danoise in the Cité Universitaire. Again, from Dillon's blog, a vivid description of a walk in that great city:

"I spent some downtime this afternoon in Luxembourg Gardens, where the starving Hemingway would stroll around with a baby carriage, waiting until the police were looking in the other direction so he could pounce on an unsuspecting pigeon, throttle it, then stuff it under the blankets for a cheap meal.

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