Dayton Kinney, Composition

Dayton Kinney creates music that has won and has been recognized in numerous national and international competitions. Inspired by Paul Hindemith’s A Composer’s World, Dayton’s music concentrates on the ambiguous idea of “transforming the circle… into a spiral.” Through this notion, Dayton explores and creates in order to discover the limits of ambiguity in thematic material, accessibility, harmony, and form with the goal of striking a balance between the certainty of a circle and the ambiguity of a spiral. Each work unfolds either through a narrative established at the outset, or through a suggested stream-of-consciousness arrangement of materials. Through this unfolding, the eclectic musical material is often organized in delineated sections or more dreamlike, kaleidoscopic arrangements.

Dayton’s music has been commissioned and performed in the U.S. and abroad with notable performances that have included ICE, the Grey Matter Ensemble, the Juventas New Music Ensemble, Deviant Septet, HYPERCUBE, F-Plus, SOSDuo, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Zodiac Trio, The Grey Matter Ensemble, Frisson Duo, Space City Performing Arts Ensemble, and at Pittsburgh Opera.

Dayton is currently a doctoral candidate for a Ph.D. in Music - Composition at Duke University. Dayton earned her Master of Music in Composition at Carnegie Mellon University and was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. Dayton also holds a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude with Honors in Music from Smith College. Her teachers have included John Supko, Leonardo Balada, Melinda Wagner, Salvatore Macchia, and Alla Elana Cohen.

Please note: Dayton has left the "Music" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	046 Biddle Music Building
Email Address:
Web Pages:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91U2AiKX3x4&t=667s http://www.daytonkinney.com

Office Hours:

by appointment only

Education:

MMus	Carnegie Mellon University	2015
BA	Smith College	2013

Specialties:

Composition

Curriculum Vitae

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Finalist for the 15th Thailand International Composers Competition “Rapee Sagarik Composition Prize”, Thailand International Composition Festival (TICF), August, 2019
• 2019 F-Plus Call for Score Finalist, F-Plus
• Call for Score Winner, Juventas New Music Ensemble
• 2nd Prize Winner in Opera, Theater, Film, Dance --Student Division, American Prize
• Pi Kappa Lambda (PKL), Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, May, 2015
• Spring 2015 Rembacher Chamber Music Competition, Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, April, 2015
• Rembacher Outreach Competition, Carnegie Mellon University
• Semi-Finalist in Choral Music, American Prize, June, 2014

Selected Performances

1. Farewell, May 8, 2014, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA    
2. Perspectives on An Optical Poem, April 29, 2015, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA    
3. Cold Hands, April 10, 2015, Pittsburgh Opera in Pittsburgh, PA [467]    
4. Dreaming Sequence, March 11, 2015, Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA    
5. Rhythmic Thoughts, December 08, 2014, Slippery Rock University, PA    
6. Fire and Ice Song Cycle, June 14, 2014, Middlebury Performing Arts Center in Middlebury, VT    
7. New Beginnings, March 06, 2014, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, Oak Cultural Center, Hartford, Ct    
8. An Imaginary Affair, June, 2013, New Music on the Point, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT    
9. Vexations, September 05, 2012, John Cage Centennial Celebration, Torp Theatre, Central Connecticut State University, Hartford, CT    

Massachusetts-native, Dayton Kinney, creates music that has won and has been recognized for numerous competitions at the international, national, and state levels. Performed in the U.S. and abroad, Dayton’s music has had notable performances by the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, the Serpili Sisters, the Zodiac Trio, and at Pittsburgh Opera. Dayton’s eclectic style is inspired from neo-romantic-ideals, juxtapositions, and accessibility. Her current compositional obsession explores the concept of the “in-between” grey-area of “tonality” and “atonality” through shapes, patterns, direction, sectional comparisons, and repetition. This exploratory obsession can be found throughout her works. Her current interests are to explore venues and subject matter for music and more contemporary processes. Dayton is a doctoral candidate for a Ph.D. in Music - Composition at Duke University, studying with John Supko. Dayton earned her Masters of Music in Composition at Carnegie Mellon University, where she was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda. Dayton also holds a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude with Honors in Music from Smith College. Her previous composition teachers include Leonardo Balada, Salvatore Macchia, Melinda Wagner, and Alla Elana Cohen.