J. Anthony Allen
From NetNewMusic Wiki
Born and raised in Michigan, J. Anthony Allen is a prolific composer of both acoustic and electronic music. He has worked with many forms of interactive media including audio, video, installation and dance. Mr. Allen's work as been called "a study in ominous sound and motion"(Baltimore Sun), and "a standing ovation" (GVSU Lanthorn). Allen's artistic interests lie not only in exploring new sounds and methods of music, but sociological aspects of performance art as well. This philosophy is evident in his works with firedancers, turntablists, outdoor performances, non-traditional instruments, and upcoming collaborations with skateboarders and engineers. Allen is a co-founder of the Dal Niente Composers Group, which further propels these ideas.
Allen's work has been presented at the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national conference, Society of Composers (SCI) national student conference, Electronic Music Midwest festival, Spark festival (Minneapolis), Music at the Anthology festival (MATA, New York City), June in Buffalo Festival and the Aspen Music Festival, for which he received the Susan and Ford Schumann Award. Allen is a recipient of the Prix D'Ete award (first prize, Peabody Conservatory), Macht Orchestral Prize and P. Bruce Blair Award (Peabody Conservatory), was a regional winner of the SCI/ASCAP Student Commission Prize, recipient of a Peabody Institute Career Development Grant, and an ASCAP Standard Award. Recent paper publications have appeared in Organised Sound (Cambridge University Press), Proceedings of the third annual Spark Festival, and ComposersOnline.Org.
Allen performs extensively both as a guitarist and on wearable sensor controllers built and designed by himself. He has performed at the Guitar Foundation of America National Conference, given numerous solo concerts and recitals, as well as professional studio work. He has performed on electronic devices on several occasions including performances with members of the Zeitgeist Contemporary Music Ensemble, in New York City at the MATA festival, Miami, FL., Minneapolis, MN., and recurring performances with the improvisation group Ballet Méchanique.
Allen is a founding member of the Dal Niente Composers Group, and is co-creator and co-senior editor of ComposersOnline.Org. In 2004 Allen co-founded the "Salon3136" Concert Series which hosts concerts and other events with the intention of dismantling the exclusivity of concert music. Additionally, in 2005 he served as the Assistant Director of the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art held in Minneapolis, and serves on the Technology Committee for the University of Minnesota School of Music.
Teaching appointments have included a position as a Teaching Associate for the Computer Music Department of the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University, an Instructor of Record position at the University of Minnesota, as well as various Teaching Assistantships at Peabody and elsewhere. Additionally, he has taught classical, jazz, folk and rock guitar at academies and institutions throughout the Midwest. Mr. Allen holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music (MM composition, MM computer music), and Grand Valley State University (BA, music). Mr. Allen is currently working on his PhD at the University of Minnesota under the tutelage of Judith Lang Zaimont and Douglas Geers, where he has held the Lloyd Ultan Advanced Composition and Electronic Music Fellowship, and the Harvey V. Berneking Graduate Fellowship. Currently, he holds the College of Liberal Arts Technology Fellowship at the University of Minnesota. His primary composition instructors have been Judith Lang Zaimont, Douglas Geers, Christopher Theofanidis, Bruno Amato, McGregor Boyle, Kurt Ellenberger, Chin-Chin Chen, Benjamin Broening, Pieter Snapper and Robert Schectman.
Mr. Allen currently teaches at the University of Minnesota and the Mt. Calvary Music Academy in Excelsior, Minnesota.
Please see www.janthonyallen.com for more details.
