An older man in black and white. He waers a blazer over a long sleeved shirt and dress pants. He is sitting on a cough in front of a book shelf. His arms rest on his knees.

Photo by Paul Court

Dick Connette
composer

Dick Connette (aka A. Leroy) moved to New York City in 1974 to study music and write for modern dance, and within a few years got caught up in the downtown performance world, where he eventually met Peggy Baker. Under the name A. Leroy, for about 15 years, he continued actively in that scene, both as a composer and a performer, and in 1990 he won a Bessie New York Dance and Performance Award for his score (written with Mimi Goese) for an evening-length work by choreographer Wendy Perron. Over the last 30 years, as Dick Connette, he has devoted himself to writing music and songs based on American folk and popular traditions. Two CDs of this work have been released by Nonesuch Records. He also works as a producer, and has his own label, StorySound Records, which features composers, arrangers, and singer/songwriters with similar interests and enthusiasms. He won a Grammy in 2009 for his work on Loudon Wainwright III’s 2-CD set High Wide & Handsome. 

For Peggy Baker Dance Projects: Dick Connette wrote the score used by Doug Varone for his 1988 duet, Home, acquired by Peggy Baker Dance Projects in 2003, with live performances of the music for concerts by Peggy with James Kudelka in Toronto and Larry Hahn in New York.