Concert pianist Peter Allen has continually delighted audiences with his power and poetry as a pianist, composer, teacher and conductor. With two solo CD’s to his credit, Peter has a new one in the works including the Brahms Handel Variations and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. He is currently Professor of Piano at Dalhousie University’s Department of Music. Also an active composer, he accepts commissions, most notably by CBC for a piano concerto called “Hurricane Juan”, premiered by Symphony Nova Scotia with Peter as soloist on September 2008 in Halifax. He had the honour of being the only music finalist for the 2006 N.S. Lieutenant Governor’s Masterworks Award for his orchestral work Variations on the Halifax Explosion. As a pianist, he is often heard on CBC regional and national radio.
REVIEWS
“Pianist Peter Allen tackled the Liszt with amazing vigor and virile tone. The work is a kind of Everest for the pianist… magnificent spirit… his love and respect for Liszt were manifest in the thoughtful and also heartfelt way he shaped the sometimes ponderous Lisztian rhetoric.”
The Mail Star, May 2000
“… for Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A, Peter Allen… gave a lilting,musical performance… displaying total control of the instrument with a fluency in the classical style… coaxing out of the piano nuance and passion…”
The Guardian, April 2000
“Peter Allen’s wonderfully rich, lavishly pianistic and wholly absorbing Haligonian Rhapsody, a new work for two pianos which he and Torbert absolutely tore up the house with…rhythmically vigorous and musically resourceful…developed with ideal musical logic… contrasted agitation and grace…”
The Mail Star, April 1999
“Allen’s vigorous rhythmic energy and the powerful bravura of his two-handed octave work at the blistering tempo with which Brahms ended histrio, anchored the ensemble with ferocious tenacity.”
The Chronicle Herald, June 1999
“His Chopin ripples, his Debussy effervesces, his Mendelsohn confronts, and his own music surprises, challenges and delights.”
The Mail Star, November 1998
“Allen’s clear-eyed playing (Chopin F Minor Concerto) lent a rare objectivity to this lovely music, without sacrificing any of its elegance. The phrases… were beautifully timed and full of natural grace.”
The Chronicle Herald, October 1997
“… technically brilliant… successfully conveyed all of the sparkle and pianistic acrobatics required when performing Liszt’s concert works… dramatic interpretation… “
The Evening Telegram, March 1997
“… phrases lovingly sculptured… Allen has a way of pulling you into his performances… with energy and irresistible force, Allen’s powerful hands drove him straight through the final three B flats and into a standing ovation.” (Prokofiev 7th Sonata)
The Mail Star, June 1995