Kathleen Allan is a soprano, composer, and conductor from St. John’s, NL. Her compositions have been commissioned by ensembles throughout Canada, and performed across North America, the UK, and in Argentina, where her work was featured at the World Symposium on Choral Music. In 2012, she was awarded an Emerging Composer Residency by the Canadian Music Centre and Canadian League of Composers. She has received two NL Arts and Letters Awards for her compositions.
Equally in demand as a soprano soloist and professional choral singer, she has appeared as a soloist with National Broadcast Orchestra of Canada and Berkshire Choral Festival Choir, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Vancouver Bach Choir, and UBC combined ensembles. In addition to freelancing regularly in Canada and the US, she is a member of the Atlanta-based Skylark Vocal Ensemble, was a member of the Yale Schola Cantorum from 2012-13, and was a member of the Vancouver Chamber Choir from 2010-12. A passionate interpreter of new vocal music, she has premiered over two dozen works for the voice, and her 2011 recital of original vocal music received national media attention on CBC.
In 2013-14, Ms. Allan Roark was the assistant conductor of the Yale Glee Club, director of the Yale Glee Club Chamber Singers, and assistant conductor of the New Haven All-City Honor Choir. During her time in Vancouver, she directed the Vancouver Bach Children’s Chorales and was director of choirs at the Vancouver Academy of Music Summer Institute. In 2013, she was appointed Conducting Fellow of the Canadian Chamber Choir.
Upcoming engagements include a premiere of an original work for tenor and string quartet and performances as guest conductor for Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in Japan. She holds a degree in composition from the University of British Columbia, a Masters of Choral Conducting from Yale University.