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the soadie waste (2002-2003)
| composer |
James Dillon (b. 1950) |
| performers |
Members of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble:
Amie Weiss, violin
Beth Weisser, violin
Amy Cimini, viola
Christopher Gross, cello
Michael Gallope, piano
Timothy Weiss, conductor |
| publisher |
C. F. Peters (BMI)http://www.edition-peters.com
|
| recording |
World premiere performance at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oberlin, Ohio, March 19, 2003 |
| duration |
14:16 |
James Dillon:
"the soadie waste (2002-03) for piano quintet forms the second part of Anthropology, a large-scale project for narrator, dancers, mixed ensembles, and electronics. It takes its title from an old dance hall in Rutherglen, on the outskirts of Glasgow [Scotland]. 'The soadie waste' was the local name for the TA [Territorial Army] social club, and was built on the wasteland of an old chemical factory. It is said that residual fumes from below would seep through the floorboards during a hot dance session.
"the soadie waste was commissioned by Oberlin Conservatory for the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. [...]"
James Dillon (b. 1950) is a composer of Scottish descent associated with the New Complexity school in the UK in the 1980's. His work is rooted in the European classical tradition and informed by the composer's early experiences with Scottish bagpipes and wide-ranging interests in jazz, blues, Hindustani (North Indian) classical music, and Asian court music. Characteristic of his work are ideas of instability and volatility: "If you are brought up on the west coast of Scotland, it's impossible to have a rosy view of nature: it is forever in flux." (Dillon)
A largely self-taught composer, Dillon was raised in Glasgow, Scotland, where he studied art and design at the Glasgow School of Art. In the 1970's he pursued a number of disciplines including piano with Eleanor Purse, Indian rhythm with Punita Gupta, and acoustics, linguistics, and mathematics at several London-area universities. He also attended computer music seminars at IRCAM in Paris, France in 1984-1985.
Dillon has taught at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Germany (1982-1992), served as director of composition at the University of Gothenburg Summer Academy in Sweden, and was co-resident composer with Brian Ferneyhough at Fondation Royaumount in France. Guest composer posts include Goldsmiths College at the University of London, University of Central England in Birmingham, New York University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, and lectureships throughout the US and Europe. Since 2007 Dillon has been on faculty at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Dillon's music has received commissions and performances by major orchestras, ensembles, and at festivals worldwide; the Arditti Quartet has been one of his longtime collaborators. His honors include the first Huddersfield Contemporary Music Prize, Kranichsteiner Musikpreise at Darmstadt, three Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, and a visiting artist fellowship from the Japan Foundation. Retrospectives of Dillon's work have been held in Paris, Oslo, Toulouse, Brussels, and most recently in New York City in 2001. Recordings include the Aeon, Albedo, Auvidis/Montaigne, Centaur, Métier, Music and Arts, and NMC labels.
related websites
http://www.music.umn.edu/directory/facProfiles/DillonJames.php
The Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble is comprised of students of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio under the direction of faculty member Timothy Weiss. Winner of an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the ensemble performs music of all styles and genres, premiering works by prominent composers as well as Oberlin students, faculty, and alumni. Guest soloists with the ensemble have included pianists Stephen Drury, Marilyn Nonken, and Ursula Oppens, violinist Jennifer Koh, and percussionist Steven Schick. Musicians from the new music groups eighth blackbird and the International Contemporary Ensemble began their careers performing with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. Recordings of the ensemble can be found on the Albany, Centaur, New World, and Opus One labels.
related websites
http://new.oberlin.edu/conservatory/faculty/faculty-detail.dot?id=21283
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