MINOO DIXON
Minoo Dixon (b. 1999) is a Korean-American composer who has been recognized by ASCAP and National Federation of Music Clubs and has been on the rise composing meaningful and exciting music meant for a variety of audiences in the Concert Hall. He also has been an enthusiastic supporter for bringing diversity into the Concert Hall. Minoo grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, where he was a passionate member of the music community, which eventually led him to develop his aspirations for becoming a composer.
Throughout his years of composing, he has been awarded the Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition, Senior Composition Competition Winner by MTNA, two NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competitions, and a Finalist of the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Awards Competition. Minoo’s pieces also have been performed at locations such as Carnegie Hall, Busan Cultural Center, Jordan Hall, and the Midwest Clinic.
Minoo earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition from New England Conservatory, where he studied under the tutelage of Michael Gandolfi. He is currently earning his Master in Music in composition at University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music where he is under the tutelage of Omar Thomas.
Throughout my youth as a young musician, I was able to grow under amazing conductors, and play amazing composer’s music. However, never once was I able to look up and see someone who looked like me, even though most of my peers did. It was a question that I always had in the back of my head, but I just ended up accepting that these things were just meant to be like this. As I grew and started to write more and more music for friends, I began to realize I was seeing myself do what I always wanted to do and slowly came to the realization that I could be the Asian American that I had always wanted to see growing up. Concert Band music has always been a predominantly white market, and I hope to bring well needed diversity and a composer that brings light to other growing musicians of color. Additionally, the medium in itself does not have the same huge body of works as its orchestral counterpoint. In my eyes, this will become the golden age of music, as composers, like myself, explore this sonic world of winds, brass, and percussion as there is still so much untapped potential. I not only hope to bring diversity into this largely unexplored space of music, but to also present truly amazing, exciting, and beautiful music to the world through this medium.
— Minoo Dixon 12/13/21