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Dustin O'Halloran

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Dustin O'Halloran is an American composer and pianist, born in 1971 in Phoenix and raised in Hawaii and Los Angeles. While studying art in Santa Monica he met the singer Sara Lov. In 1998 they started the indie rock band Dévics together. When the group signed to Bella Union in 2001, they moved to Italy. In 2004 his first solo record, Piano Solos, was released, and in 2006 Piano Solos, Vol. 2 followed. Later solo albums include Lumiere from 2011, with Peter Broderick and Adam Wiltzie, and in 2019 he signed to Deutsche Grammophon.

Music and breakthrough

Besides his solo records he forms the ambient duo A Winged Victory for the Sullen with Adam Wiltzie, who made albums such as Atomos from 2014, The Undivided Five from 2019 and Invisible Cities from 2021. In 2015 they played at the Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms. O'Halloran also wrote film music, including for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette from 2006 and for Like Crazy from 2011. In 2015 he won an Emmy for the theme tune of the series Transparent. Together with Hauschka he made the music for the film Lion, which received, among other honours, an Oscar nomination.

Influence

His music is restrained and calm, often for piano alone or with strings and electronics, and resembles a kind of small film image. He belongs to the modern classical movement in which piano music, ambient and film music flow into one another.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a piece from Piano Solos and notice how slow and simple the melody is. Can you hear the silence between the notes, and how it lets the piece breathe?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists