Allen Shawn
Allen Shawn (born 1948) is an American composer, pianist, educator, and author who lives in Vermont.
His music
Among Shawn's available recordings are several of chamber music, a collection of piano music, and his Piano Concerto performed by Ursula Oppens with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David Alan Miller.
Shawn composed And in the air these sounds . . . for baritone and orchestra to celebrate John Steinbeck's 100th birthday. The piece was commissioned by Kate Tamarkin and the Monterey Symphony in 2002 and featured baritone Clayton Brainerd. It received its second performance by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in spring 2003.
As author
Shawn is the author of a book about twentieth-century Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg titled Arnold Schoenberg's Journey.
He is also the author of Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life, which examines his experiences with anxiety and panic disorder, as well as his relationship with his autistic twin sister Mary.[1] Most recently, he has published Twin: A Memoir, also about Mary and his relationship with her.[2] He discussed Twin with Terry Gross on WHYY's Fresh Air on January 3, 2011.[3]
Personal history
Shawn is the son of The New Yorker editor William Shawn and the brother of the actor and playwright Wallace Shawn. He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University and studied in France with Nadia Boulanger.[4]
He teaches composition and music history at Bennington College and was formerly married to novelist Jamaica Kincaid, with whom he has a son, Harold, and a daughter, Annie.
He is currently married to Yoshiko Sato—a pianist also working at Bennington College—with whom he has a three-year-old son.
References
- ^ Shawn, Allen. Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life (New York: Viking, 2007)
- ^ Shawn, Allen. Twin: A Memoir (New York: Viking, 2011)
- ^ http://www.npr.org/2011/01/03/132618326/parallel-lives-having-a-twin-with-mental-illness
- ^ kalvos.org
External links
- Allen Shawn biography
- Terry Gross Fresh Air interview with Allen Shawn, NPR.org, February 20, 2007.
- Allen Shawn at the Internet Off Broadway Database
- Allen Shawn Biography at Chaspen Foundation for the Arts
- Resume at Bennington College
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