A versatile conductor, Eric Allen is sought as a conductor of all types of ensembles. At Texas Tech University, Allen serves as director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble. Under his direction, the CME has performed exciting and innovative programs in a variety of venues, providing opportunities for musicians to experience exploratory repertoire in a nurturing and collaborative environment.

In addition, Allen serves as Associate Director of Bands at Texas Tech where his responsibilities include serving as conductor of the Symphonic Band and assisting with the direction of the Goin’ Band from Raiderland. Under Allen’s direction, the Texas Tech Symphonic Band has performed many engaging concerts with repertoire spanning nearly two centuries. The ensemble has also performed many collaborative performances with faculty solo artists and were praised in Fanfare Magazine for their fine accompaniment work on the MSR Classics release of Andrew Stetson’s solo album, Rise Above. Further recognition came through their selection by jury to perform at the 2016 CBDNA Southwestern Division Conference in Boulder CO, and the 2020 CBDNA Southwestern Divisional Conference in Norman OK.

His orchestral work includes serving the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Lubbock Chamber Orchestra. Allen has led the LCO through stimulating performances of a variety of repertoire including symphonic masterworks, choral collaborations, chamber music, collaborative solo repertoire, and conducting the orchestra recording DJ Sparr’s Through Every Gust of Wind: Four Haiku as part of the Sparr’s album titled Hard Metal Cantus.

Albums

Shifting Direction

Release Date: November 15, 2024
Catalog Number: NV6681
21st Century
Chamber
Clarinet
Flute
Violin
A resilient voice for new music, Eric Allen conducts the Texas Tech University Contemporary Music Ensemble in SHIFTING DIRECTION, a collection of three works by composers Joan Tower, Jennifer Jolley, and Jennifer Higdon. Elevated by Allen's precise conducting and careful attention to detail, SHIFTING DIRECTION provides three unique listening directions for contemporary music enjoyers to delight in. In Petroushskates, Tower paints an image of a carnival on ice, a whirling winter affair inspired by the thematic material of Stravinsky's Petrushka as it appears in the opening Shrovetide fair sequence. Weaving and flowing, the music creates the graceful effect of seeing a figure skating routine. Jolley's Blue Glacier Decoy pays tribute to the path of modern dancer and choreographer Trisha Brown, who revered the glacier and incorporated its landscape and movement into her work. SHIFTING DIRECTION closes with a bang — or rather, a zap — with Higdon's Zaka, a word which is defined as doing the following at great speed: zap, sock, race, turn, drop, sprint. The ensemble moves at an electric pace to capture the essence of the term.