{{short description|American composer}} thumb|Fannie Charles Dillon in 1915. [[File:FannieDillonandArthurFarwell.jpg|thumb|Fannie Charles Dillon and Arthur Farwell]]
'''Fannie Charles Dillon''' (March 16, 1881{{spaced ndash}}February 21, 1947) was an American pianist, music educator and composer.
==Life== Fannie Charles Dillon was born in Denver, Colorado in 1881. She moved with her family to Long Beach, California in 1890. She graduated from Pomona College<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sadie |first1=Julie Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&q=Fannie+Charles+Dillon+(1881%E2%80%931974)&pg=PA143 |title=The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers |last2=Samuel |first2=Rhian |year=1994 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-03487-5 |access-date=December 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215044609/https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&q=Fannie+Charles+Dillon+%281881%E2%80%931974%29&pg=PA143 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> and studied composition with Heinrich Urban, Hugo Kaun and Rubin Goldmark, and piano with Leopold Godowsky in Berlin.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvoQQU1QL_QC&q=Fannie+Charles+Dillon+%281881%E2%80%931974%29&pg=PA143|title=The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers|first1=Julie Anne|last1=Sadie|first2=Rhian|last2=Samuel|year=1994|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=9780393034875|access-date=December 7, 2010}}</ref>
==Personal life and marriage== After completing her studies, Dillon worked as a pianist, teacher, performer and composer in Los Angeles. She taught at Pomona College from 1910 to 1913 and in the Los Angeles high school system from 1918 to 1941. She founded Woodland Theater at Fawnskin, Big Bear Lake, California, in 1924 and served as its general manager from 1926 to 1929. She married Cypriot theater actor James Christo. Dillon died in Altadena, California. Her papers are stored by the UCLA library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0m3nb5dp|accessdate=November 7, 2010|title=Collection Guide}}</ref>
As a composer, Dillon was known for adapting bird calls into her scores. While she was teaching at Los Angeles High School in the late 1920s, future composer John Cage was among her students.<ref name=LAT01>Swed, Mark, [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-john-cage,0,3501401.htmlstory "John Cage's genius an L.A. story"], ''Los Angeles Times'', August 31, 2012; retrieved September 2, 2012.</ref>
==Works== Dillon composed for piano, voice, orchestra and chamber ensemble, as well as for outdoor dramas. Selected works include: *''Nevertheless--Old Glory'', drama *''The desert calls'', drama *''Tahquitz'', drama (see Tahquitz (spirit)) *''Celebration of Victory'', for orchestra *''The Cloud'', for orchestra *''Woodland Flute Call'', for organ *''A Letter from the Southland: Mission Garden'' *''The Alps'' *''Chinese Symphonic Suite''<ref>{{cite book |title=Women of Notes: 1,000 Women Composers Born Before 1900|publisher=Richards Rosen Press, Inc.|year=1978}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZc_eRzAAp0 Birds At Dawn - Fannie Charles Dillon from YouTube]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Fannie Charles}} Category:1881 births Category:1947 deaths Category:20th-century American classical composers Category:20th-century American women composers Category:American women classical composers Category:American music educators Category:American women music educators Category:Pomona College faculty Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Pomona College alumni Category:20th-century American women academics