|
Continued from Page 2
attendance to approve the performance and bask in enthusiastic applause." Classical Voice North Carolina noted, "Most welcome was Amadeus Ex Machina by Lawrence Dillon...Add this to his growing list of challenging yet audience-friendly compositions...Bold slashing figures are combined with high string harmonics and unusual woodwind sounds that twist and swerve...The audience's response was enthusiastic as Dillon was called and recalled to the stage by conductor Kennedy."
THE WRIGHT STUFF
Summer of 2006, Roanoke Island Festival Park was the site of a revival of Lawrence Dillon's multimedia work, Wright Flight, which was composed to commemorate the centennial of the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk. The piece, which interweaves three strands of narrative to recreate the events leading up to and following that historic occasion, was first performed as part of the NC School of the Arts summer festival in Manteo, NC, and was subsequently chosen as a featured work in the centennial celebrations in December 2003, with Neil Armstrong, several members of the Wright family, and Andy Griffith in the audience.
The 2006 revival featured 8 performances, some in the film theater of Festival Park, and some under the stars in the Outdoor Pavilion.
The next performance for Wright Flight will take place in Ohio, when Robert Franz leads the Mansfield Symphony in a concert on February 10, 2007.
|
 |
SECOND SYMPHONY
Lawrence Dillon's blog, "an infinite number of curves", gave an unusual glimpse behind the scenes of a composer at work this past summer. Dillon embarked on the composition of his Second Symphony in June, keeping an online journal of his progress over the course of three months.
Here is a taste of some of his observations:
"I've had seven orchestral commissions over the last fourteen years. Just enough to keep my chops sharp, but not nearly enough to exhaust all of the ideas I have for orchestra. And yet, I know that I am very fortunate to have had that many opportunities - there are many composers with extraordinary gifts who struggle to get any commissions at all."
"When I was a kid, I thought it was amazing that Haydn wrote 104 symphonies. Now I realize it was just a matter of demand - if I lived in a world that required 104 symphonies from me, I would have no trouble responding."
"With this symphony, the first idea was very simple: I wanted to write a large work for orchestra in which one movement would contain a chamber narrative: spoken text with very sparse accompaniment. That was it - shortly after the premiere of my first symphony, in 1999, I realized that was what I was going to do next."
Over the course of the summer, Dillon charted his progress, the fits and starts, the sudden bursts of activity, the inspirations and moments of anxiety. Interest in his chronicle grew over time, with other blogs around the world offering commentary, including the Italian critic Il Blog della Domenica.
At the end of the summer, Dillon announced the completion of the new work with little fanfare. It awaits its first performance.
Page 1 2 4 5
|
