Born and raised in Michigan, J. Anthony Allen (b. 1978) 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) "An aural hallucinogen," (Minnesota Public Radio) 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 performed by the Peabody and Aspen orchestras, and in 2006 by the Minnesota Orchestra as part of their New Music Reading sessions. Additionally, Allen's work has been presented at the Society of Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national conferences, Society of Composers (SCI) national student conference, Electronic Music Midwest festivals, Spark Festivals of Electronic Music and Art, (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 in 2004 and 2005. 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 two Peabody Institute Career Development Grants, an Arts Quarter Collective Grant (University of Minnesota), and several ASCAP Standard Awards. Recent paper publications have appeared in Organized Sound (Cambridge University Press), The Living Music Journal, Proceedings of the third annual Spark Festival, and ComposersOnline.Org. Allen has studied with prominent teachers in the United States while at the Peabody Conservatory and University of Minnesota. Additionally, Allen has studied electro-acoustic music at the Centre de Création of Music Iannis Xenakis (CCMIX) in Paris, France.

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, he has served as the Assistant Director of the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art held in Minneapolis since 2004, 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, Instructor positions at the University of Minnesota (Teaching Advanced Notation and Introduction to Music Software and MIDI), 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 a PhD candidate in music composition with a minor in visual art 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.

Contact: j@janthonyallen.com