Michael Allen

Michael Allen is artistic director and general manager of the Boulder Brass and was previously assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Colorado at Boulder. For more than 35 years, he was in demand as a low brass specialist (tuba, euphonium, and bass trombone) in Colorado and served as principal tuba of the Central City Opera Orchestra, Colorado Ballet Orchestra, Colorado Chamber Orchestra, Opera Colorado Orchestra, and the Boulder Philharmonic. Formerly he was the principal tuba of the Denver Chamber Orchestra, and has been a member of the Dallas Brass, Aries Brass, and Colorado Brass. He has performed with the Colorado, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins Symphonies, the Dallas Chamber Orchestra, the Summit Brass, and the brass ensemble of the Grand Teton Music Festival.

An accomplished and prolific arranger, he has published over 400 works for brass quintet and brass ensemble. His arrangements have been performed and/or recorded by: Canadian Brass, Summit Brass, Dallas Brass, Boulder Brass, Burning River Brass, Linne Brass (Sweden), Monarch Brass, Capitol Brass, Michigan Chamber Brass, and the New York Big Brass, as well as the brass sections / ensembles of the Colorado Symphony, Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (NedPhO), New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Saint Louis Symphony.

He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in tuba performance from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver where he studied with Walt Zeschin, John Daley, and Paul Brooks, and his Master of Music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he studied with J. Michael Dunn (tuba) and Dr. William Stanley (bass trombone). He has also studied wind and orchestral conducting with Allan MacMurray, Theodore Kuchar, F. Joseph Docksey, and Vincent LaGaurdia.