Matthew Dallman
Biography and Resume |
download artistic/professional resume (PDF, 128K) Matthew Dallman is a composer, classically trained in the European and American traditions, and also a poet and aesthetics scholar. He is the editor-in-chief of POLYSEMY arts journal, which he founded in 2005, and a student of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages. He has independently released four albums of original compositions, received commissions to compose for four wedding ceremonies, and has scored five independent films. He has worked with chamber ensembles, vocal ensembles, jazz and rock combos, and solo instruments both acoustic and electronic. His music has been performed in venues in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Boston, New York City, Boulder, and Chicago. A composition for marimba is the soundtrack to the film, A Whirling Tango, directed by Hannah Dallman (his wife), which was an Official Selection of the 2005 Chicago International Film Festival as well as other festivals IMDB Listing). Matthew is the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of POLYSEMY (see POLYSEMY.org) which is a journal for working artists. It showcases original commentary, podcasts, blogs, a library of learning resources, and a poetry/photography review. Matthew founded the magazine to support a community of artists who prize genuine, earned depth in their work, and who are interested in interdisciplinary dialogue. For over four years, and for nearly two at POLYSEMY Online, Matthew has maintained his The Daily Goose blog. It is "a kosmic blog about fine artistry, parenthood, and classical education", where he writes for over 2,500 readers per month. Matthew has authored numerous essays and continues in his research phase for a book with a working title, A River of One's Own. An early draft of his essay, "The Artist's Mind", was used in a graduate course in "Integral Studies", offered by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Matthew has since rejected what he calls the "Wilberian" approach to the fine arts and aesthetics (see his essays "On Ken Wilber: Hopelessly New Age, Hopeless for the Humanities" and "The Humanities As The Integral Tradition"). Matthew is firmly rooted in the lineage of the North American aesthetics tradition, through Camille Paglia, Marshall McLuhan, John Dewey, Mortimer Adler, and other scholars. In 1997, he graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, with a degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. While there, he studied poetry with renowned poets Yusef Komunyakaa and Carter Revard. After Wash U., Matthew led and composed for a jazz/rock/jamband trio in Minneapolis, called Electric Goose. The group performed for two years. Matthew then decided to expand his music study to include into the Western classical music traditions. After two years of study with a composer, Matthew moved out to Brooklyn to attend Aaron Copland School of Music, at Queens College.
Amidst his studies there, Matthew fashioned what he called an "integral music practice". It is a daily plan of action, or sadhana, to integrate the important music school curriculum with other aspects of a diverse and sustainable musical life. Exercises he used include silent meditation, tone yoga (his own creation), expansive improvisation of fundamental chord progressions, Iyengar yoga, regular performances of compositions, teaching, and immersion into Western 'Early Music', specifically plainchant and Medieval polyphony, as well as engaged study of music from all of the world's traditions. He left Queens College to move to Chicago, continuing his private studies with his current composition teacher, W.A. Mathieu, and commencing composition for independent films.
Matthew Dallman is the son of Robert and Katherine Dallman, and brother of Christopher Dallman. He is married to Hannah Dallman (nee Pendzich), daughter of Larry and Sheryl Pendzich, and sister of Maggie Pendzich. Matthew and Hannah are the proud parents of Twyla Christine Dallman, Oona Mae Dallman, and Isadora Anne Dallman.
Matthew credits his late grandmother Gertrude for early encouragement and ongoing inspiration in music. It was Gertrude who encouraged Matthew to first take up music, and to take piano lessons. His earliest musical memories are of sitting on the carpet at his grandparents' Shawano, Wisc, home, while Grandma improvised at her Kimball piano for hours at a time: absorbed in tones and alive as music.
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