Justin Dello Joio,(born October 18, 1955, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and the fifth-generation composer in the Dello Joio family.

Early life and education

Dello Joio completed his formal education at the Juilliard School, earning a Bachelor's, Master's, and a Doctoral degree in composition where he studied with

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own wo ...

Roger Sessions Roger Huntington Sessions (December 28, 1896March 16, 1985) was an American composer, teacher and musicologist. He had initially started his career writing in a neoclassical style, but gradually moved further towards more complex harmonies and ...

, and David Diamond. During his years at Juilliard, he was honored with an annual composition award.

Life and career

Dello Joio has worked as a composer throughout his adult life. He was honored with the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

Award in Music in 2004, and the American Academy's Virgil Thompson Award for his opera ''Blue Mountain''. His music, although not part of the American Neo Romantic style, is noted for its communicative emotional content, structural clarity and colorful orchestration, and his early influences include music of composers

Jacob Druckman Jacob Raphael Druckman (June 26, 1928 – May 24, 1996) was an American composer born in Philadelphia. Life A graduate of the Juilliard School in 1956, Druckman studied with Vincent Persichetti, Peter Mennin, and Bernard Wagenaar. In 1949 and 1 ...

and

Witold Lutosławski Witold Roman Lutosławski (; 25 January 1913 – 7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and conductor. Among the major composers of 20th-century classical music, he is "generally regarded as the most significant Polish composer since Szyman ...

. Dello Joio recent Concerto for Piano and Orchestra ''Oceans Apart'' was commissioned by the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

for

Garrick Ohlsson Garrick Olof Ohlsson (born April 3, 1948) is an American classical pianist. He is the only American to have won first prize in the International Chopin Piano Competition, at the VIII competition in 1970. He also won first prize at the Busoni Com ...

, and premiered with Ohlsson and Alan Gilbert conducting the Boston Symphony in Symphony Hall in January 2023. His music has been performed by the Boston Symphony, The Detroit Symphony, The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, The American Brass Quintet, Garrick Ohlsson,

Carter Brey Carter Brey (born 1954) is an American cello virtuoso. He had a prolific solo career from 1981 until 1996 when he became the principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic, a position he still holds today. Biography Carter Brey was born in Montc ...

Ani Kavafian Ani Kavafian ( hy, Անի Գավաֆեան, born May 10, 1948, Istanbul) is a classical violinist and professor at the Yale School of Music. Early life and education Born in Istanbul of Armenian heritage, Ani Kavafian began piano lessons at t ...

Jeremy Denk Jeremy Denk (born May 16, 1970 in Durham, North Carolina) is an American classical pianist. Early life Denk did not come from a musical family. After several years in New Jersey, his family settled in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he grew up. He ...

, Jay Campbell, Stephan Gosling, Meral Guneyman and William Wolfram. He has received commissions from the

, the Koussevitsky Foundation, and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

principal cellist,

. His one-act opera, ''Blue Mountain'', was commissioned by Det Norske Blaseensemble and was released by

Bridge Records Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York. History A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his first ...

. Dello Joio has taught composition and related subjects at New York University beginning in 1983, and has been a faculty composer-in-residence at the Steinhardt Music Department at New York University since 2008 and a professor of orchestration in the Department of Composition at the Juilliard School College since 2017. He has been guest composer in residence at Vienna Summer Music Festival (2019), São Paulo Contemporary Music Festival (2018), Charles Ives Music Festival (2017).

Catalogue of selected works

*1978 – String Quartet No. 1, recorded by the Primavera String Quartet, Grenadilla Records, published in 1990 by Theodore Presser. *1987 – ''Musica Humana'', symphonic poem for large orchestra, premiered at

Alice Tully Hall Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in the Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The hall is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assist ...

, Lincoln Center, New York,

Sixten Ehrling Evert Sixten Ehrling (3 April 1918 – 13 February 2005) was a Sweden, Swedish Conducting, conductor and Piano, pianist who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detro ...

conducting the Juilliard Symphony and published by G. Schirmer,

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown neighborhood. Jader Bignamini is the current music d ...

, Kenneth Jean conducting *1987 – Sonata for Piano, premiered at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

, Washington DC, pianist Meral Guneyman, as featured work in the American Festival of Contemporary Music. The premiere was broadcast on the classical radio station WGMS Washington; recorded on Bridge Records by

, recorded by Meral Guneyman *1995 – ''Transcription – New Dance'', by

Wallingford Riegger Wallingford Constantine Riegger ( ; April 29, 1885 – April 2, 1961) was an American modernist composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral and modern dance music. He was born in Albany, Georgia, but spent most of his career in New York Ci ...

, commissioned to orchestrate the piano music of Riegger for the

Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded in 1926, is known for being the oldest American dance company. Founded by Martha Graham as a contemporary dance company, it continued to perform pieces, revive classics, and train dancers even after Graham's ...

. It premiered at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

. *2001 – Two Concert Etudes for piano, premiered at

Merkin Hall Merkin Hall is a 449-seat concert hall in Manhattan, New York City. The hall, named in honor of Hermann and Ursula Merkin, is part of the Kaufman Music Center, a complex that includes the Lucy Moses School, a community arts school, and the Speci ...

, New York, commissioned by the New York State Association of Music Teachers; recorded on Bridge Records by Garrick Ohlsson *2007 – Music for Piano Trio "The March of Folly", premiered at Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society in New York, with

on violin, Carter Brey on cello, and

Shai Wosner Shai Wosner ( he, שי ווזנר) is a pianist. He was born in Israel in 1976 and is now living in the United States. He studied piano with Emanuel Krasovsky in Tel Aviv. From an early age he also studied composition, as well as music theory and i ...

on piano, recorded on Bridge Records by Jeremy Denk, Ani Kavafian, and Carter Brey *2008 – ''Blue and Gold Music'', for brass quintet and organ, commissioned for the

American Brass Quintet When the American Brass Quintet gave its first public performance on December 11, 1960, brass chamber music was still relatively young to concert audiences. The New York Brass Quintet is regarded as the first brass quintet in the United States, ha ...

for the 300th anniversary of the Trinity School in New York. Premiered

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornings ...

in New York City with the American Brass Quintet and Colin Fowler; recorded on Summit Records – ABQ:The State of the Art. *2011 – ''Due Per Due'' for cello and piano, premiered at the

Kravis Center The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts (often referred to as the Kravis Center) is a not-for-profit, professional performing arts center in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. History 1978–1992 In 1978, the Palm Beach County Council of the Ar ...

, West Palm Beach in Florida with New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey and pianist

Christopher O'Riley Christopher O'Riley is an American classical pianist and public radio show host. He was the host of the weekly National Public Radio program ''From the Top''. O'Riley is also known for his piano arrangements of songs by alternative. Early life O ...

; recorded for Bridge Records *2012 – ''Blue Mountain'', a chamber opera in one act, commissioned by Det Norske Blaseensemble, and premiered in Oslo Norway, in the Ultima Music Festival in 2012 in Kanonhallen. Recorded in concert in Kanonhalen in Oslo Norway, and released on Bridge Records. University of Connecticut, November 2015 *2018 – ''I Carry Your Heart'', commissioned by the Cincinnati Men's Chorus and premiered at the Empire City Men's Chorus *2023 – Concerto for Piano and Orchestra "Oceans Apart" commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for pianist Garrick Ohlsson; recorded for Bridge Records Garrick Ohlsson and Alan Gilbert conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Awards and honors

*1985 – New York Foundation for the Arts Grant *1996 – Wladimir and Rhonda Lakond Award,

*1998 –

John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

*2004 – Music Award, The American Academy of Arts and Letter *2005 –

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell (1905–1996), ...

Grant *2006 – Aaron Copland Recording Foundation Grant, The Ditson Fund *2007 – Classical Recording Foundation, Composer of the Year Award *2013 – Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer's Award *2016 –

The American Prize The American Prize is a set of annual nonprofit national competitions in the performing arts which recognizes and rewards commercial and noncommercial recorded performances of classical music in the United States based on submitted applications. T ...

– 2 categories – Opera and Chamber Music *2023 – Virgil Thomson Award in Vocal Writing, American Academy of Arts and Letter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dello Joio, Justin 1955 births Juilliard School alumni New York University faculty Juilliard School faculty Composers from New York City Living people