Christopher Allen’s career was launched by the Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant and has been fostered by Plácido Domingo and James Conlon, who brought him to Los Angeles Opera as Associate Conductor. At LA Opera, Allen led the musical preparation for the acclaimed The Ghosts of Versailles, which won a Grammy Award for Best Opera. Recognized as a Musical America Artist of the Month and one of their “25 Stars Still Rising,” Allen is also an International Opera Awards nominee, and recent recipient of the Young Alumni Award from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Allen demonstrates his commitment to education through his work with young artists at Los Angeles Opera, Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Aspen Music Festival and School, New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, A J Fletcher Institute at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has been heard on NPR speaking about the importance of the arts in American society. As an award-winning pianist, he has performed at Carnegie Hall, John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, on film in La voix humaine, starring Patricia Racette and directed by James Darrah, and in Emily, a production he created for Opéra de Montréal and performed at Wolf Trap.
Allen’s artistic pursuits extend beyond his role as conductor. He is the Creative and Artistic Director of Fourth Wall Ensemble, an innovative new vocal ensemble, which he founded in 2023 and whose recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall at The Kaufman Music Center, a collaboration with Death of Classical featuring works by Monteverdi and Caroline Shaw’s Partita for 8 Voices, a series at Power Station at Berklee NYC, and a residency at Avaloch Farm Music Institute.
September 24 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Poets of Patchin Place: Musical Settings of Village Poets