Justin Dello Joio

Justin Dello Joio (born October 18, 1955) is an American composer and the fifth-generation composer in the Dello Joio family. Early life and education Dello Joio completed his formal education at the Juilliard School, earning a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and a Doctoral degree in composition where he studied with Vincent Persichetti, Roger Sessions, and David Diamond. During his years at Juilliard, he was honored with an annual composition award. Life and career Dello Joio has worked as a composer throughout his adult life. He was honored with the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Music in 2004, and the American Academy’s Virgil Thompson Award for his opera Blue Mountain. His music, although not part of the American Neo Romantic style, is noted for its communicative emotional content, structural clarity and colorful orchestration, and his early influences include music of composers Jacob Druckman and Witold Lutosławski. Dello Joio recent Concerto for Piano and Orchestra Oceans Apart was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra for Garrick Ohlsson, and premiered with Ohlsson and Alan Gilbert conducting the Boston Symphony in Symphony Hall in January 2023. His music has be