Dilettante Music
Encyclopedia
History
Dilettante is a classical music website with social networkSocial network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
ing features. It was founded in January 2008 by Juliana Farha
Juliana Farha
Juliana Farha is a Canadian born journalist and businesswoman who lives in London, England.She was educated at the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto and at Ryerson University in Toronto. Juliana Farha worked at CBC Radio in Toronto and was Editor-in-Chief of Watch, a youth...
and is based in Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The site saw a major redesign in May 2009 which implemented features such as "new ticketing, media and retail partners, video tutorials, a new personalized homepage, Dilettante Radio, a discussion forum and Dilettante Guru, a site-wide search tool."
As of December 2010, Dilettante Music has been taken off-line, citing financial difficulties.
Digital Composer-in-Residence
In 2009 Dilettante held a 'Digital Composer-in-Residence' competition which was the first such position to be offered anywhere in the world. The competition consisted of a preliminary period where applicants were judged on their compositions by a judging panel including Nico MuhlyNico Muhly
Nico Muhly is a contemporary classical music composer, who has worked and recorded with classical and pop/rock musicians. He currently lives in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan in New York City.-Early years:...
, Michael Christie
Michael Christie (conductor)
Michael Christie is an American conductor. He graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance...
and Jennifer Higdon
Jennifer Higdon
Jennifer Higdon is an American composer of classical music. Higdon has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her Violin Concerto and the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for her Percussion Concerto.-Biography:Higdon was born in Brooklyn,...
, a period with voting open to the public, and a final event held at Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall
Wilton's Music Hall is a grade II* listed building, built as a music hall and now a more general-purpose performance space in Grace's Alley, off Cable Street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The final took place on November 5, 2009 and was presented by conductor Charles Hazlewood
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Matthew Egerton Hazlewood is a British conductor and advocate for broadening access to orchestral music. Renowned for his widespread presence across the BBC, he conducts orchestras around the world, making his debut with the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Orchestra of the Age of...
. The finalists were Canadian Aaron Gervais
Aaron Gervais
Aaron Gervais is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music.Aaron Gervais was born and grew up in Edmonton. He studied jazz performance at Grant MacEwan College and the University of Toronto, and composition at the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto, and UCSD. He currently...
, Taiwanese Chiayu and American David T. Little, whose compositions were performed by the London Sinfonietta
London Sinfonietta
The London Sinfonietta is an English chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble specialises in contemporary music and works across a wide range of genres, performing modern classics alongside world premieres, and includes music by electronica artists as well as folk and...
alongside works that inspired them, including pieces by "great modernist iconoclasts, Charles Ives and Gyorgy Ligeti... [and] Jonathan Harvey, a composer of lofty spiritual inclinations." The title was won by David T. Little who took a £1,000 prize and has a dedicated section on the website.