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The American tenor, Thomas Michal Allen [Tom Allen], began his musical studies as a pianist. After earning a degree in English literature he received a Master’s Degree in voice from the Manhattan School of Music in New York in 1991. He later studied at the Britten-Pears School of Advanced Musical Studies in England where he worked with renowned teachers Mignon Dunn and Anthony Rolfe-Johnson. He won prizes in several international voice competitions.
Thomas Michal Allen made his opera debut in 1994 as Don Ottavio in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni at the New Israeli Opera. Guest engagements have taken him to countless musical centers in Europe and North America, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, the Philharmonie im Gasteig and the Herkules-Saal in Munich and the state theaters in Stuttgart and Mannheim. He has also appeared at numerous music festivals including the Salzburg Mozart Festival, the Händel Festival in Halle and the London Opera Festival.
Praised for the unusual range, flexibility and beauty of his voice, Thomas Michal Allen has established a reputation for his vivid representations of a wide range of operatic roles, which extends from the Renaissance through the present, with a special emphasis on the haute contre roles of the French Baroque and the leading bel canto tenor roles of Rossini and Bellini.
In opera Thomas Michal Allen has worked with many prominent directors including David McVicar, Laurent Pelly, Nigel Lowrey, Dieter Dorn and Graham Vick. He has sung at the Théatre des Champs-Élyées in Paris, Zürich Opera, Staatsoper Berlin, La Monnaie in Brussels, Grand Théatre de Genève , Opera de Lyon, and the Stuttgart Opera. In 2004 he received great acclaim for the role of Calisis in Rameau’s Les Boréades in Lyon and Zürich under the baton of Marc Minkowski as well as the role of Lenia in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo at the Innsbruck Festival with René Jacobs. In 2005 he enjoyed a major success as the Demon in Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa at the Opera de Lyon.
As a concert artist Thomas Michal Allen regularly appears in the great concert halls of Europe and has worked with such conductors as Kurt Masur, Michael Gielen, Helmuth Rilling, Simone Young, Julia Jones, William Christie, Gary Bertini or Enoch zu Guttenberg, with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, The Academy of Ancient Music, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Les Musiciens du Louvre and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. He has a wide and varied concert repertoire, has performed nearly every major oratorio, and has earned a reputation as one of the most sought-after Evangelists in the Passions of J.S. Bach.
Recent projects include the role of the Maler in Alban Berg’s Lulu at opening of the new Trianti Hall at the Megaron Complex in Athens, Arnalta/Mercurio in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Staatsoper Berlin and La Monnaie in Brussels under the baton of René Jacobs and J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Helmuth Rilling and the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.) and concerts of J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra again with Helmuth Rilling. In June 2006 he sang Pisandro in Philippe Arlaud’s new production of Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria at the Grand Théatre de Genève under the baton of Attilio Cremonesi In July and August he performed concerts and made a recording for EMI of a selection of Purcell’s sacred music with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants.
Upcoming projects include Belmonte in W.A. Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Göttinger Symphony Orchestra, Athamas in Georg Frideric Handel’s Semele with William Christie at the Zürich Opera in a new staging by Robert Carsen, Pierre Audi’s Monteverdi Cycle at de Nederlandse Opera and Henze’s L’Upupa in Tokyo.
Thomas Michael Allen has made several commercial recordings including a recent release of Galuppi’s La Diavolessa and a critically acclaimed DVD world premiere of Jacob ter Veldhuis’s Paradiso for Chandos. His CD recordings include also works by J.S. Bach, W.A. Mozart and Reimann. |
