Fannie Charles Dillon (March 16, 1881February 21, 1947) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

and

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 def ...

Life

Fannie Charles Dillon was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1881. She moved with her family to

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

in 1890. She graduated from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

and studied composition with

Heinrich Urban Heinrich Urban (27 August 1837 – 24 November 1901) was a German violinist and composer. Life and career Heinrich Urban was born in Berlin, and studied with Ferdinand Laub, Hubert Ries and Friedrich Kiel. He sang alto in the Königliche Domchor ...

, Hugo Kaun and

Rubin Goldmark Rubin Goldmark (August 15, 1872 – March 6, 1936) was an American composer, pianist, and educator.Perlis, ''New Grove Dictionary of American Music'', v. II, p. 239 Although in his time he was an often-performed American nationalist composer, his ...

, and piano with

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an United States of America, American citizen in 1891. He ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Personal life and marriage

After completing her studies, Dillon worked as a pianist, teacher, performer and composer in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She taught at Pomona College from 1910 to 1913 and in the Los Angeles high school system from 1918 to 1941. She founded Woodland Theater at Fawnskin,

Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the Western United States, western United States, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, California. It is a snow and rain-fed lake, having no other m ...

, California, in 1924 and served as its general manager from 1926 to 1929. She married Cypriot theater actor James Christo. Dillon died in

Altadena, California Altadena () is an unincorporated area, and census-designated place in the San Gabriel Valley and the Verdugos regions of Los Angeles County, California. Directly north of Pasadena, California, Pasadena, it is located approximately from Downtow ...

. Her papers are stored by the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

library. As a composer, Dillon was known for adapting bird calls into her scores. While she was teaching at

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

in the late 1920s, future composer

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

was among her students.Swed, Mark
"John Cage's genius an L.A. story"
''Los Angeles Times'', August 31, 2012; retrieved September 2, 2012.

Works

Dillon composed for piano, voice, orchestra and chamber ensemble, as well as for outdoor dramas. Selected works include: *''Nevertheless--Old Glory'', drama *''The desert calls'', drama *''Tahquitz'', drama (see

Tahquitz (spirit) Tahquitz (, sometimes ) is a spirit found in the legends of the Cahuilla, Kumeyaay and Luiseño Native American people of Southern California. Accounts of the legend vary significantly, but most agree that Tahquitz represents evil or death, and h ...

) *''Celebration of Victory'', for orchestra *''The Cloud'', for orchestra *''Woodland Flute Call'', for organ *''A Letter from the Southland: Mission Garden'' *''The Alps'' *''Chinese Symphonic Suite''

References

External links

Birds At Dawn - Fannie Charles Dillon from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Fannie Charles 1881 births 1947 deaths 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American women composers American women classical composers American music educators American women music educators Pomona College faculty Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) American women academics Pomona College alumni