Susan Allen was born on May 10th 1951 in Monrovia, California, USA. The second of five children, she spent her early years in Santa Barbara, graduating from the High School there in 1969. She first studied the harp with Suzanne Balderston, then attended the Music Academy of the West with Leon Fleisher for chamber music and Maurice Abravanel for orchestra, winning the 'Abravanel Award for Outstanding Achievement' in 1971.
Subsequent harp studies were with Bernard Zighera, principal harpist of the Boston Symphony, Marcel Grandjany, Catherine Gotthoffer and Marcella DeCray. She studied next at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, transferring to the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and receiving a BFA in 1973. She commissioned, premiered, recorded and performed numerous works for harp by James Tenney, Ruth Lomon, Earl Kim, William Thomas McKinley and other artists.
As a jazz artist, she was known for 'free improvisation', as well as work in 'world music' genres, having appeared internationally with artists such as Swapan Chaudhuri, Yusef Lateef, L Subramaniam, Adam Rudolph, Ed Sarath and Roman Stolyar. She performed at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles with a grant from the "Meet the Composer (Rockefeller Foundation & AT&T;) Program", in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts.
Allen improvised alongside saxophonist Anthony Braxton, sitarist Amiya Dasgupta and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. She also performed with drummer Albert Heath, violinist L Shankar, and jazz artist Dave Brubeck. She finally obtained an MA and PhD from Schools on Borders in 2006. Susan Allen died from cancer in Seattle, Washington, on September 7th 2015, aged 64. http://slippedisc.com/2015/09/sadness-at-death-of-a-pioneering-harpist-aged-64/
4 Comments (since 16 Sep 2015)
rest_in_peace
Susan Allen was born on May 10th 1951 in Monrovia, California, USA. The second of five children, she spent her early years in Santa Barbara, graduating from the High School there in 1969. She first studied the harp with Suzanne Balderston, then attended the Music Academy of the West with Leon Fleisher for chamber music and Maurice Abravanel for orchestra, winning the 'Abravanel Award for Outstanding Achievement' in 1971.
rest_in_peace
Subsequent harp studies were with Bernard Zighera, principal harpist of the Boston Symphony, Marcel Grandjany, Catherine Gotthoffer and Marcella DeCray. She studied next at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, transferring to the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, and receiving a BFA in 1973. She commissioned, premiered, recorded and performed numerous works for harp by James Tenney, Ruth Lomon, Earl Kim, William Thomas McKinley and other artists.
rest_in_peace
As a jazz artist, she was known for 'free improvisation', as well as work in 'world music' genres, having appeared internationally with artists such as Swapan Chaudhuri, Yusef Lateef, L Subramaniam, Adam Rudolph, Ed Sarath and Roman Stolyar. She performed at the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles with a grant from the "Meet the Composer (Rockefeller Foundation & AT&T;) Program", in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts.
rest_in_peace
Allen improvised alongside saxophonist Anthony Braxton, sitarist Amiya Dasgupta and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. She also performed with drummer Albert Heath, violinist L Shankar, and jazz artist Dave Brubeck. She finally obtained an MA and PhD from Schools on Borders in 2006. Susan Allen died from cancer in Seattle, Washington, on September 7th 2015, aged 64. http://slippedisc.com/2015/09/sadness-at-death-of-a-pioneering-harpist-aged-64/