[1] He started to play the violin at the age of 8, the clarinet at 12, and in high school became a drummer and lead singer in local rock bands.
A year later he went to Princeton University, where he studied with Milton Babbitt, Edward T. Cone and Paul Lansky, receiving both an M.F.A and Ph.D. in composition.
[5][6] Dellaira has been a recipient of an ASCAP Morton Gould award, a Jerome Commission from the American Composers Forum, and grants from the American Music Center, Cary Trust, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, and New Jersey Arts Council.
Dellaira's 1995 orchestral tone poem Three Rivers was a turning point in his compositional style and voice; in this piece, based on his solo guitar music from the 60's, Dellaira now sought ""the sense of improvisation which occurred when this music flowed freely from heart to fingers, unimpeded by matters of style, theory, or criticism.
[11] Under the direction of Tony Award-winning actress Carlin Glynn, Chéri underwent a series of revisions, culminating in a workshop production at The Actors Studio in 2005, conducted by Mark Shapiro.
The opera, conducted by Sara Jobin and directed by Sam Helfrich, premiered on March 18, 2011, in New York at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse.
Based on four poems by Emily Dickinson (each containing the word “nobody”), the work premiered in March, 2012, with Robert Cowles conducting and Anna Stearns Peterson as oboist.
Directed by Thomas Desi and conducted by Carmen Helena-Tellez, The Death of Webern premiered on October 10, 2013, at Symphony Space in New York.
The production featured Kim Josephson as Prince Don Fabrizio, Robynne Redmon as Princess Stella, Frank Ragsdale as Father Pirrone, and Kevin Short as Chevalley.
It featured Colin Levin as Elisha Kent Kane, Nicole Haslett as Maggie Fox, Erin Brittain as Lady Jane Franklin, Michael Celentano as President Zachary Taylor, and Inuk drum-dancer Nuka Alice as Inuit shaman Siarnaq.
The Campers at Kitty Hawk; on Conspirare's CD Crossing the Divide:Exploring Influence and Finding Our Voice -- American Masterpieces Festival