Artist Biography
Allen Krantz, Guitar
ALLEN KRANTZ, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory and Stanford University, has received acclaim as a composer, solo guitarist, and chamber musician. His performances throughout the United States have included appearances at Carnegie Hall, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Phillips Collection in Washington, with his diverse programs often featuring original compositions. Recent premieres have been "Under One Roof", a trio in celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Phliadelphia Museum of Art, and "James the Captain Cook Pig", for narrator and septet, conducted by Charles Dutoit. Other recent performances include "Songs of Innocence and Experience", a concerto for guitar and small orchestra with Jason Vieaux as soloist, and his arrangement of Copland's "Appalachian Spring" sketches presented at the Library of Congress with the Martha Graham Company. Krantz's works include "An American Town" for string orchestra, commissioned by the Village Bach Festival in Michigan and also presented at the Moscow Autumn festival and in Australia. "Without Borders", commissioned by pianist Clipper Erickson, is featured on his recording, "Woven Images". "anyone lived in a pretty how town", commissioned by Music at Gretna, has been performed by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit in Saratoga and Philadelphia.
Allen Krantz is composer in residence for the Philadelphia based chamber ensemble, 1807 & Friends, which premiered his "Little Elegy", "Quartet for Guitar and Strings", and "In Five". His String Quartet was premiered by the Wister Quartet. Krantz's unique collaboration with Janet Eilber, principal dancer of the Martha Graham Company, has resulted in three works for chamber ensemble featuring dancer/narrator and guitar, based on American poetry. He has received support from Meet the Composer, the American Composers Forum, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance among others.
Mr. Krantz heads the guitar program of The New School Institute at Temple University. He performs in "Duo Paganini" with violinist Nancy Bean, associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has performed and taught nationwide as an Affiliate Artist. Krantz's "Song of Spring with Little Variations and Fantasies" and "Nocturne for Viola and Guitar" are published by the Theodore Presser Co. His solo and chamber music arrangements for the guitar are published by International Music. Allen Krantz's recordings for the DTR label include "Summer Music" with flutist Deborah Carter which features two of his compositions, and "The Romantic Guitar", a recital of his guitar arrangements of Schubert, Schumann and Brahms. The Philadelphia Connection features his "Sonata for Violin and Guitar".