Peter Allen (composer)

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Peter Allen accepting his Leo Award for Truly, Madly, Sweetly in 2019

Peter Allen (born 18 February 1952) is a Canadian composer, organist, and keyboard player. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, his compositions encompass a broad repertoire from film scores and commercial jingles to sacred music and avant-garde electroacoustic music. He has composed numerous works for CBC Radio and CBC Television.

Education and career[]

Peter Allen at the piano 2010

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Allen was a pupil of Boyd McDonald and Robert Turner[1] at the University of Manitoba where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1975. Between 1976-1977 he pursued graduate studies at McGill University where his teachers included Bengt Hambraeus, Alcides Lanza, and Bruce Mather. During the 1970s he was a founding member of the contemporary concert series IZ Music,[2] along with three other Manitoba composers; Bruce Carlson, William Pura and James Hiscott. Their concerts were regularly recorded by the CBC and broadcast on Two New Hours, CBC Radio Toronto. Allen also worked as a pianist with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and was active as a keyboardist with a number of local club and rock bands. In 1980 he became organist at St. Mary's Cathedral, Winnipeg and in 1984 was appointed music director for Pope John Paul II's papal mass outdoors at Bird's Hill Park in Winnipeg, for which he was also commissioned to compose a new mass setting. From 1985-1986 he worked for Century 21 Studios as their in-house composer and music producer.[3]

Allen moved to Los Angeles, California in 1986 to pursue studies in film scoring at the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. In 1988 he moved to Vancouver British Columbia to open his own recording and sound production studio, Peter Allen Associates Inc.[4] He has composed music for more than 100 films for American, Canadian and British film companies, including Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Disney, Universal Pictures, CineTel Films, The National Film Board of Canada, the CBC, LifeTime, Hallmark as well as numerous independent film producers, and has written music for various television shows and series, including a theme song for the Winnipeg Jets in 1979, the broadcast theme for the Toronto Blue Jays, the Montreal Expos, the Winning Spirit theme for the Vancouver Canucks,[5] and also the international broadcast theme for the 1994 Commonwealth Games. In October 2012, "Tear The Curtain", directed by Kim Collier, played on the Canadian Stage, the largest theatre stage in Canada. "Tear The Curtain" is a simultaneous mix of live theatre and film, and features a score by Peter Allen,[6] both in the film segments and the live segments of the production. Peter worked with Kim Collier again in 2019 to create the score for "The Full Light of Day", which played at the Luminato Festival in Toronto in 2019. In 2003 he won a Leo Award for his score for the film Flower & Garnet and in 2019 for his score for the film Truly Madly Sweetly. [7]

Filmography[]

Films[]

Year Title Notes
1993 Cyborg 2: Glass Shadow
1994
1995 Heaven's Tears
Dangerous Prey
For a Few Lousy Dollars
1997 Crackerjack 2
Sleeping Dogs
1998 Hell Mountain
Dark Confessions
Sparky Versus Rocco Short Film
Act of War
1999 A Twist of Faith
Escape Velocity
The Silencer
Lethal Target
2000 Bear with Me
Fatal Conflict
Crackerjack 3
The Operative
Last Stand
2001 Ripper
2002 Flower & Garnet
Starfire Mutiny Direct-to-video
The Barber
2003 Casanova at Fifty Short Film
2004 11:11
Ripper 2: Letter from Within
2005 Sara Under Siege Short Film
Thralls
The Score
2006 Shock to the System
2007 A Dennis the Menace Christmas Direct-to-video
Blonde and Blonder
Tit for Tat Short Film
2008 Scourge
Incident at a Truckstop Diner Short Film
On the Other Hand, Death
The Art of War II: Betrayal Direct-to-video
Ice Blues
Christmas Town Direct-to-video
2009 The Devil's Ground
Attention, the Doors Are Closing Short Film
Driven to Kill Direct-to-video
Damage
2010 Dancing Ninja
The Stranger Direct-to-video
The Diner Suit Short Film
2011 Pressed
Skew
Jesus Christ Short Film
Rise of the Damned
Dead Simple Short Film
Liz Short Film
2012 American Mary
Now and Forever Short Film (music written and performed)
2013 Out of Business' Short film
Cup Runneth Over Short film
2014 The Clockwork Girl Feature Animation
Toxin
2015 A Perfect Wedding
2016 Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House Direct-to-video
2017 Bigger Fatter Liar Direct-to-video
Selfie From Hell Feature Film
2018 The Big Top Fury Short Film

Television[]

Year Title Notes
1991 Tales from the Crypt 1 episode
1994 Metro Cafe
1996 Downdraft Television film
1997 Kleo the Misfit Unicorn 26 episodes
Dead Fire Television film
1998 The Other Side of the Picture Documentary
1999 Escape from Mars Television film
Slightly Bent TV
Sasquatch Odyssey: The Hunt for Bigfoot Documentary
2002 atHome
2004 On Course
Deep Evil Television film
Happyland Television film
Eve's Christmas Television film
A Very Cool Christmas Television film
2005 Steklo Mini-series (3 episodes)
Home for the Holidays Television film
His and Her Christmas Television film
2006 Lesser Evil Television film
The Obsession Television film
Family in Hiding Television film
Deadly Skies Television film
Breaking Ranks Documentary
Four Extraordinary Women Television film
21st Annual Gemini Awards Television special
All She Wants for Christmas Television film
2007 A Valentine Carol Television film
Witness to Murder Television film
Destination: Infestation Television film
2008 The Afterlife with Suzane Northrop Documentary (10 episodes)
Let's Talk Sex 10 episodes
Making Mr. Right Television film
Love Sick: Secrets of a Sex Addict] Television film (international version)
Mixed Nutz
2009 Storm Seekers Television film
Black Rain Television film
Encounter with Danger Television film
Vancouver Vagabond Documentary
Health Nutz Television film
Something Evil Comes Television film
2010 A Family Thanksgiving Television film
Two Men in a Boat: Chasing Spring Documentary
2011 The Adventures of Artie the Ant 12 episodes
Past Obsessions Television film
2012 What's Up Warthogs! 19 episodes
Broken Trust Television film
Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade Television film
2013 Health Nutz 7 episodes
The Trainer Television film
Profile for Murder Television film
Forever 16 Television film
2014 Irreplaceable Documentary
My Mother's Future Husband Television film
The Color of Rain Television film
Recipe for Love Television film
Wedding Planner Mystery Television film
2015 I Do, I Do, I Do Television film
The Wrong Girl Television film
Ties That Bind 9 episodes
Angels in the Snow Television film
Debbie Macomber's Dashing Through the Snow Television film
2016 Stop the Wedding Television film
Chesapeake Shores 1 episode
Terres d'Exploration Television mini-series documentary
2017 Nations at War Documentary
The Christmas Train Television film
2018 Truly Madly Sweetly Television film
2020 Charlie's Christmas Wish Television film

Video games[]

Year Title Notes
2004 Spongebob Squarepants: A Day in the Life of a Sponge

Theatre[]

Year Title Notes
2008 Titus Andronicus Bard On The Beach
2010 Tear The Curtain Arts Club Theatre
2013 You Are Very Star Electric Company Theatre
2019 The Full Light Of Day Electric Company Theatre

Awards[]

Peter Allen at the Leo Awards 2004
Year Project Category Result
2000 A Twist of Faith Best Musical Score in a Motion Picture (Leo Award) Nominated
2002 The Barber Feature Length Drama: Best Musical Score (Leo Award) Nominated
2003 Casanova at Fifty Short Drama: Best Musical Score (Leo Award) Nominated
Flower & Garnet Feature Length Drama: Best Musical Score (Leo Award) Won
2005 11:11 Feature Length Drama: Best Musical Score (Leo Award) Nominated
2006 The Score Best Music Score in a Feature Length Drama (Leo Award) Nominated
The Score Best Original Music Score for a Program or Mini-Series (Gemini Award) Nominated
2008 A Dennis the Menace Christmas Best Musical Score in a Feature Length Drama (Leo Award) Nominated
Scourge Best Music Score in a Feature Length Drama (Leo Award) Nominated
2009 The Art of War II: Betrayal Best Musical Score in a Feature Length Drama (Leo Award) Nominated
2014 Destination: Infestation Domestic Feature Film Award (SOCAN Award) Won
2019 Truly, Madly, Sweetly Best Musical Score in a Television Movie (Leo Award) Won


References[]

  1. ^ "Robert Turner website". Archived from the original on 30 June 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  2. ^ Peter Allen at the Canadian Music Centre website
  3. ^ Peter Allen at canadianencyclopedia.ca[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Peter Allen in Reel West Magazine 2013 (pages 12 & 13)
  5. ^ IMDB Bio
  6. ^ "Tear The Curtain review, Georgia Straight". Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  7. ^ Leo Award Winners 2003

External links[]

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