James Dillon

Who is James Dillon?

James Dillon is a Scottish composer who is often regarded as belonging to the New Complexity school. Dillon studied art and design, linguistics, piano, acoustics, Indian rhythm, mathematics and computer music, but is self-taught in composition.

Dillon was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Honours include first prize in the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 1978, the Kranichsteiner music prize at Darmstadt in 1982, and three Royal Philharmonic Society composition awards; most recently for his Fourth String Quartet. Dillon taught at Darmstadt from 1982–92, and has been a guest lecturer and composer at various institutions around the world. He has taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota since 2007.