Susan Allen (musician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Allen
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| Born | May 10, 1951 |
| Died | September 7, 2015 (aged 64) |
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| Years active | 1973 – 2015 |
Susan Allen (born May 10, 1951 – died September 7, 2015) was a talented American harp player and music teacher. She was famous for playing new music for both regular (classical) and electric harps, written by modern composers. She played many types of music, including classical, experimental, jazz, and world music. For a long time, she also helped lead the Herb Alpert School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).
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Early Life and Learning
Susan Allen was born in Monrovia, California. She grew up in Santa Barbara. She started learning the harp when she was 12 years old. She studied and performed at the Music Academy of the West.
After high school, she went to the New England Conservatory in Boston. She studied with famous harp teachers there. However, she didn't like that the school only focused on classical music. After one year, she went back to California. She joined the new School of Music at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). She was one of the first students to graduate from this school in 1973. She earned a degree in Music Performance.
Her Music Career
After college, Susan moved to Boston. She played in several music groups, like the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra. She also started playing by herself. She often performed with flutist Robert Stallman. They played new songs for the first time. One special piece was Ventilation manual, which they played in Amsterdam in 1976. They also performed it in New York at Carnegie Hall.
During this time, Susan played many new harp pieces by composers like Ruth Lomon and William Thomas McKinley. In 1979, she recorded a piece for harp and orchestra. That same year, she gave her first solo concert at Carnegie Hall, playing only new music for the harp. Her first solo album, New Music for Harp, came out in 1981.
Teaching and Performing
In 1983, Susan Allen returned to Los Angeles. She became a teacher at the CalArts School of Music. She later became an Associate Dean, which means she helped manage the school. For over 20 years, she also helped with CalArts' Community Arts Partnership program. She taught and gave talks about the harp and making up music on the spot (improvisation) all over the world. She also held summer classes for young harp players.
While teaching, Susan kept performing and recording. In the 1990s, she played with Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures group. She also gave a concert of new harp music at Merkin Hall. This concert included Mel Powell's last work. In 1998, she played the electric harp with Indian musicians in Hyderabad, India. About 10,000 people watched this concert, which was shown live on TV and radio in India.
Later, she played a new piece by Andre Cormier in 2003. She also performed with Roman Stolyar (piano) in 2008 and 2011. They played the harp and the Korean kayagum together. They released an album called Together in 2011.
Later Years
Susan Allen's last album, Postcard from Heaven, was released in April 2015. By then, she had been diagnosed with cancer. This album included songs by John Cage. Susan and John Cage were close friends and often made up music together in concerts.
Towards the end of her life, Susan moved to Seattle, Washington, to be near her family. She passed away in a hospice in Kirkland on September 7, 2015, at age 64. A friend, Jacques Burtin, said that Susan could play very difficult music. She was also one of the few harpists who could play real jazz. He said that making up music was her "beloved child." Her book, Passage of Desire: Improvisation and the Human Journey, was not finished when she died.
Music Written for Susan Allen
Many composers wrote music especially for Susan Allen. Here are some of them:
- Celebrations: Nimbus and the Sun God by Ruth Lomon (1978)
- Harmonium No. 3 by James Tenney (1978)
- Wake up! by Derek Healey (1979)
- Fertile Vicissitudes by Joyce Mekeel (1981)
- Twelve for Susie by Mel Powell (1981)
- One Thousand Sources by Jacques Burtin (2006)
- Perchance to Dream by Gloria Coates (2014)
Her Albums
Here are some of the albums Susan Allen recorded:
As the Main Artist
- 1980 Concertino for Harp and Orchestra by Germaine Tailleferre
- 1982 New Music for Harp (songs by Ruth Lomon, John Cage, and others)
- 1998 Duets with Vinny Golia
- 2001 Songs by Mel Powell on Mel Powell: Five Decades of Music
- 2004 Ligatures (solo harp improvisations)
- 2006 NIRUSU III: MartinIIIs at the Maybeck (improvisations)
- 2006 Trialog with Roman Stolyar and Sergeĭ Belichenko
- 2007 Renaissance with Jacques Burtin
- 2011 Together with Roman Stolyar
- 2015 Postcard from Heaven (songs by John Cage, James Tenney, and others)
As an Ensemble Member
Susan Allen also played on albums with other musicians:
- 1984 The Art of Joan La Barbara
- 1991 Harold Budd: By the Dawn's Early Light
- 1992 Adam Rudolph: Adam Rudolph's Moving Pictures
- 1994 Adam Rudolph: Skyway
- 1995 Yusef Lateef and Adam Rudolph: The World at Peace: Music for 12 Musicians
- 1995 Adam Rudolph: The Dreamer
- 2002 Four songs by Elaine Barkin on Music for Instruments, Voice and Electronic Media
- 2010 David Myska: On the Steps
- 2012 Mark Abel: The Dream Gallery: Seven California Portraits
- 2014 Saturn's Rival (ensemble improvisations)
