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Torrie Allen has served as the general and artistic director of Anchorage Opera (AO) since 2007. Through a wide range of inventive programming and new partnerships with other leading organizations in Alaska, Mr. Allen is guiding AO toward a transformational era of financial efficiency, creativity and popularity.
Prior to joining AO, Mr. Allen served as the director of the National Patrons Council at Americans for the Arts (AFTA) in Washington, D.C. At AFTA, he was responsible for enhancing and directing the activities of America’s foremost network of philanthropists, business leaders, and elected officials. Before joining AFTA, he managed and co-managed multi-million dollar institutional fundraising portfolios for non-profits in New York City and garnered national recognition for his approach to donor cultivation.
Before launching his career in management, Mr. Allen spent a decade as a young professional opera singer appearing with renowned companies worldwide including Opéra National de Bastille, France; Teatro Real, Spain; Teatro Lyrico di Cagliari, Italy; Bregnenz Festspiel, Austria; Teatro Bellas Artes, Mexico; Prague Radio Symphony, Czech Republic; St. Petersburg State Symphony, Russia; Teatro Nacional, Costa Rica; Houston Grand Opera, Metropolitan Opera Guild, Sarasota Opera, Aspen Opera Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York and the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.
Under Mr. Allen’s artistic leadership, AO regularly mounts critically-praised Alaskan and Pacific Northwest premieres and new productions of classic operas and operettas including Puccini’s La boheme, Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s Il Barbieri di Siviglia, Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Pablo Sorozábal’s La Tabernera del Puerto, Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change, Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit!, Martin Kalminoff’s The Audition, and Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath.
Soon after arriving at AO, Mr. Allen began significantly expanding the company’s educational outreach and training programs. Through new ventures with the U.S. Military, Alaska World Affairs Council, Anchorage School Business Partnerships, Anchorage Public Library and other groups, AO now provides opera appreciation and learning opportunities to increasingly diverse populations in Alaska. In 2007, he forged a partnership with the University of Alaska, Anchorage to create the first undergraduate Opera Apprenticeship program in Alaska. In 2009, he developed and launched the Alaskan Theatre Workshop for Singers in partnership with Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska.
Mr. Allen has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and provided volunteer support for numerous organizations including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arts and Business Council of New York, National Dance Institute, American Repertory Ballet, Oratorio Society of New York, Russian Chamber Chorus of New York, God’s Love We Deliver, Ayuda for the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Matanuska Electric Association, Anchorage Museum, Miss Alaska Pageant, Alaska Public Telecommunications, Alaska State Council on the Arts, Anchorage Cultural Council and the Alaska Chamber Singers.
Mr. Allen holds degrees from UCLA in Political Science and the Boston Conservatory in Vocal Performance and Opera.
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