Allen Harrington

• BMus, University of Saskatchewan
• MMus, Northwestern University

As an active soloist, recitalist, adjudicator, chamber and orchestral musician, Allen maintains a busy schedule outside of his University teaching career. He has appeared as a soloist with more than a dozen orchestras in Canada, Europe, and South America. He has given countless recitals across Canada and toured with the organizations Debut Atlantic, Prairie Debut, and Home Routes Classical. Over the years he has also frequently been heard on CBC radio.  As a bassoonist, Allen plays principal bassoon with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and is a regular extra with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Allen has had great success at music competitions at the national and international level. In 1999 he won the Grand Award of the National Music Festival of Canada, and in 2004 won first prize in the International Stepping Stone competition. In 2006 Allen became the first and only Canadian ever to reach the final round of the International Adolphe Sax Competition in Dinant, Belgium.  At the University of Manitoba, Allen has received two Students’ Teacher Recognition awards, and a University of Manitoba Faculty Association Merit Award. He was also a recipient of The Alumni of Influence Award from the University of Saskatchewan College of Arts and Science.

Harrington has recorded three CDs with the Ravello Records label: Metropolis, The Postcard Sessions, and Vanishing Point, featuring music for saxophone and piano as well as saxophone and pipe organ.  He has performed at five World Saxophone Congresses and many North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences. He has toured and given recitals in the United States, France, Malaysia, and Brazil.  Recent performances/tours include visits to Croatia and China.  He is committed to thoroughly exploring the existing saxophone repertoire while actively commissioning new works.