Ted_Allen_lo_res
Many of Ted Allen’s compositions reflect his California upbringing in their invocation of California’s environment and social history. Ted’s California works include Mendocino Coast September 2020, for chorus, violin and harpsichord, the electronic piece South Fork Kings River, May 2021, and all the repertoire for his electro-acoustic sextet, The Incendiary Cycle.

Ted’s music has been performed by San Francisco Choral Artists, San Francisco Bach Choir, San Francisco Girls Chorus, San Jose Choral Project, New Jersey All State Chorus, Galax Quartet, and the University of South Dakota Chamber Orchestra and at venues including Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, Symphony Space, La Mama and The Knitting Factory in New York, the and/or Gallery in Seattle and the Center for New Music and the San Francisco Conservatory in San Francisco. His string metal composition, Fire in the Forge, is a best seller in the school music market. Dozens of school orchestras have uploaded their performances of the piece to YouTube. His work has been supported by ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, Meet the Composer, New York Foundation for the Arts, and IntermusicSF.

After completing his education at Pomona College and the Yale School of Music, Ted spent 10 years in New York City working as a composer, arranger, and copyist. He returned to California in 1991, where he wrote video game scores and contributed two orchestrations to the Metallica/San Francisco Symphony collaboration S&M. In 1999, Ted embarked on his second career teaching secondary school orchestra, band, piano, guitar, and music technology.