Francesco Dillon - Cello
Watch Francesco Dillon plays Francesco Filidei’s Lied (2020). The video is part of the Play Further! Video Series.
Francesco Dillon (b.Turin, 1973) already has a brilliant international career to his credit, characterised by the originality and variety of the repertoire that he has embraced. As a soloist he has performed on such prestigious concert stages as the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Herkulessaal of Munich, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Jordan Hall in Boston and the Colon Theatre of Buenos Aires, with such orchestras as the Italian National Radio Orchestra, the Southwest Radio Symphony Orchestra of Stuttgart, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vienna, the Orchestra of the Colon Theatre, Ensemble Resonanz, Oulu Sinfonia Finland, and the Tuscany Regional Orchestra. Most recently he made an acclaimed debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, conducted by Susanna Mallki.
Having graduated in Florence under the guidance of Andrea Nannoni, he continued his studies with Anner Bijlsma, Mario Brunello, David Geringas and Mstislav Rostropovich, thereafter studying composition with Salvatore Sciarrino.
In 1993 he was one of the founders of the Quartetto Prometeo, a chamber group of international acclaim and winner of numerous prizes (Prague Spring, ARD Munich, Bordeaux) and recently honoured with the "Leone d’Argento" award of the Biennale Musica of Venice. Dillon is also a stable member of the Alter Ego ensemble. The group is regularly invited to the major contemporary music festivals around the world. His passion for chamber music has led to performances with musicians such as Irvine Arditti, Mario Brunello, Giuliano Carmignola, Piero Farulli, David Geringas, Veronika Hagen, Alexander Lonquich, Enrico Pace and Jean-Guihen Queyras.
The profound interest in contemporary music which he has always cultivated has led to solid collaborations with major composers of our time: Gavin Bryars, Ivan Fedele, Luca Francesconi, Stefano Gervasoni, Philip Glass, Vinko Globokar, Sofija Gubaidulina, Jonathan Harvey, Toshio Hosokawa, Giya Kancheli, Alexander Knaifel, Helmut Lachenmann, David Lang, Alvin Lucier, Arvo Pärt, Henri Pousseur, Steve Reich, Fausto Romitelli, Kaija Saariaho, Salvatore Sciarrino and with cult experimental musicians such as Matmos, and Pansonic, William Basinsky and John Zorn.
Dillon's performances have been transmitted by such important broadcasters as the BBC, RAI, ARD, Radio France, ORF, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and WDR.
He has recorded for the ECM label, as well as Kairos, Ricordi, Sony, Stradivarius, Die Schachtel and Touch.
He recently recorded for the first time, Variations by Salvatore Sciarrino, which received the “Diapason d’Or prize”, and Ballata by Giacinto Scelsi, both with the Italian National Radio Orchestra. As a duo with pianist Emanuele Torquati, he has brought out three CDs of rare music of Schumann and the complete works for cello by Franz Liszt for Brilliant Classics.
Along with his concert activity there have been teaching experiences in institutions such as the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Royal College in London, Liszt Academy in Budpest, Premio Borciani/Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia, Tokyo music University, the Tchaikovsky Conservatory of Moscow, the Pacific University in California, Untref-Buenos Aires, Manchester University.Since 2020 he holds the cello Master Course at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole (Firenze).
From 2010 he has been artistic director of the contemporary music Festival Music@villaromana in Florence and from 2019 he holds the same position at “CastelCello” Festival in Brunnenburg (Tyrol).
See also the biography of Duo Dillon-Torquati, a cello and piano duo of Francesco Dillon and Emanuele Torquati.