Composition

CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF COMPOSITIONS

“Admirable music which is both ancient and new, contemporary and traditional, clear yet passionate, with rough, sensual and transparent sounds. […] The words disappear in the breeze of the notes, becoming both confession and prayer.”  Jean Mambrino November 2003 ETUDES on Suite Khamush (composed and performed by Colin Pip Dixon & Eveline Causse)

“Two violins, a narrator, and a chateau: Magic in the making.The Chateau was happily lulled by the melodies of Dixon and Mozart”  The Dole Newspaper (France), August 2007

Colin has composed music for the theater, for concert, and a combination of the two. His music has received grants from the important French Music institutions: the SACEM  (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de Musique) and the SPEDIDAM (Société de perception et de distribution des droits des artistes-interprètes).

He has worked closely and often with the French theater company Théâtre de l’Arc-en-Ciel, composing scores for the following theatrical productions: Etty Hillesum (co-composed with Eveline Causse), Les Tostoi – jouranl intime (The Tolstoy Diaries), La Première Seconde, Prélude à l’Anastasis (also with Eveline Causse). All are productions of Théâtre de l’Arc-en-Ciel.

Most recently he composed the score for His Majesty, the Devil – a play with music (Alexandra Devon), a play inspired by Dostoyevsky in which the music takes on a central role in the play.

This was produced by his group, The Elsewhere Ensemble, and performed at 59E59 Theaters in New York City and at the 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.

He worked for many years and closely with the French actor Dominique Rozan (Knight of Arts & Letters) who’s career included 25 years with the Comédie Française and 10 years with the legendary Jean-Louis Barrault/Renaud theater company. With him in Paris he created the Chekhov Tritych and Mozart & the Happy Prince 

(Le Passereau et L’Oiseleur in French) both concerts with narrator based on Chekhov short stories, Oscar Wilde, and Mozart. Colin also performed these works later in English in New York and Boston with MacIntyre Dixon (his father).

Another important composition, premiered in France at the Chateau de Machy’s 2012 summer festival, is Invocation,  for soprano, violin & viola. It is a piece with with texts from different religions & cultures exploring the question of peace and violence.

He collaborated for many years with Eveline Causse composing the score to Etty Hillesum together and co-composing Suite Khamush, a concert dedicated to the poetry of Rumi, the great 13th century mystic Persian poet. They premiered the work at the beautiful  Abbaye aux Dames in Saintes (France), and went on to perform at the concert hall of the Lyon Opera, in Paris at the St. Merri Church, The Iranian Cultural Center, as well as many other performances throughout France and Belgium.

Colin has also written a concert piece for children based on the beloved story The Velveteen Rabbit which has been performed in London and Paris in it’s chamber version. He has also written a version for narrator and orchestra.

Instrumental works include a Trio (for violin, viola & piano), a Sonata for violin & piano and a sonata for two violins.

Artists who have performed his works: Arnaud Ghillebaert, Robert Thompson, Ivy Zohra Adrian, Mariam Tamari, Dominique Rozan, MacIntyre Dixon, The Elsewhere Ensemble, Eveline Causse, Jean-Pierre Néré