+++
date = "2016-02-05T13:36:00-05:00"
discipline = "Conductor"
lastmod = "2016-02-05T13:36:00-05:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1454697098493/ChristopherAllen_GabrielGastelum1---Square.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Gabriel Gastelum"
publishDate = "2016-02-05T13:36:00-05:00"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/los-angeles-opera.md","scene/companies/english-national-opera.md"]
slug = "christopher-allen"
title = "Christopher Allen"
website = "http://www.christophergallen.com/"
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platform = "Twitter"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://twitter.com/Moallen86"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Youtube"
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url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xms__5qfkY4&list=PLGD5AXWxIXdylqX9dAfAuYDBT3fX-5T49"
+++

Christopher Allen is rapidly gaining attention as a rising conductor on the operatic and symphonic stages. Plácido Domingo and James Conlon brought him to Los Angeles Opera where he is currently Associate Conductor. His conducting career was launched when he received the Bruno Walter Conducting Award and Memorial Career Grant.

Recently named The John L. Magro Resident Conductor for Cincinnati Opera, Christopher Allen made his debut conducting Ricky Ian Gordon’s world premiere production of *Morning Star* and led the Cincinnati Symphony in Cincinnati Opera's Washington Park Concert. In the 2015 – 2016 season, Mo. Allen makes his UK debut conducting *The Barber of Seville* at the English National Opera and debuts at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City in a production of *L’elisir d’amore* directed by James Robinson. As Resident Conductor of Cincinnati Opera, Mo. Allen will return for productions in the summers of 2016 and 2017. In those years, Mr. Allen will also conduct Opera in the Park, the annual free concert in Washington Park that opens the Opera's summer season. He was nominated as a finalist for 2015 International Opera Awards in London in the “Newcomer” category.

In the 2014 – 2015 season, Christopher Allen made his Los Angeles Opera conducting debut in Patrick Morganelli’s *Hercules vs. Vampires*. He also returned to the company as Associate Conductor in *La traviata* with Plácido Domingo as Germont and in *The Ghosts of Versailles* with James Conlon. He made his debut with Opera Santa Barbara in *Rigoletto* in the fall of 2014. He returned to Intermountain Opera in Bozeman, MT to conduct a double-bill of *Gianni Schicchi* and *Suor Angelica*. Mo. Allen made his Asian debut conducting *Il barbiere di Siviglia* at the Daegu Opera House in the spring of 2014. Also in the 2013 – 2014 season, he prepared *I due Foscari* for Theater an der Wien assisting James Conlon with Plácido Domingo as Francesco Foscari and was the associate conductor to James Conlon on *Lucia di Lamermoor*, *Falstaff*, and the Britten Centennial Concerts at LA Opera. He returned to the Atlanta Symphony to assist Robert Spano on Britten’s *War Requiem*, as well as preparing a world premiere with Spano at the Ojai Music Festival. Other past assignments at LA Opera include productions of *Don Giovanni*, *Tosca*, *Carmen*, *The Rape of Lucretia*, Holdridge’s *Dolce Rosa*, and *Madama Butterfly*. 

Since 2011, Christopher Allen has maintained a close relationship with the Atlanta Symphony working with Music Director Robert Spano and Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles. He was on the music staff of Cincinnati Opera as assistant conductor, a position he has held for the past three years and returned in 2013 to assist Carlo Rizzi in *Aida*. He has assisted on John Adams’ *A Flowering Tree* and *Die Zauberflöte* for Bernard Labadie and Joana Carneiro and was assistant conductor on *La traviata* and Astor Piazolla’s *Maria de Buenos Aires*. He made his debut at the Intermountain Opera Bozeman in Montana conducting *La traviata*.

Christopher Allen has been a recipient of numerous piano awards which have led to debuts in venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, The Kennedy Center, The Juilliard School and the Tenri Cultural Institute. While a student at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, his production of Benjamin Britten’s *Turn of the Screw* was awarded a National Opera Association prize. 

As a frequent recitalist, he made his Chicago Mayne Stage and WFMT debut with baritone Levi Hernandez. He made his Matinee Musicale debut as part of their 99th season with tenor Scott Ramsey, which critics described as “ravishing – a superb collaboration.”
