Ted Allen’s composition process begins with the same question he asked himself each morning of his teaching career: “What is the coolest thing that we can do today with this group of musicians?”
Ted’s music has been performed by San Francisco Choral Artists, San Francisco Bach Choir, San Francisco Girls Chorus, New Jersey All State Chorus, Galax Quartet, and the University of South Dakota Chamber Orchestra among others. His string metal composition, Fire in the Forge, is a best seller in the school music market, with dozens of performances documented in YouTube uploads.
Before becoming a high school music director, Ted worked as a composer, arranger and copyist in the commercial music business. He worked on the music preparation staff of 25 Broadway shows, wrote orchestrations for the New York Pops Orchestra and orchestrated two songs for the collaboration between Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony.
Ted holds composition degrees from Pomona College and the Yale School of Music. His work has been supported by ASCAP Grants to Young Composers, New York Foundation for the Arts, and IntermusicSF.