2010 National Choral Honors Project
Allen Crowell
Allen Crowell was the Mildred Goodrum Heyward Professor of Choral Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, from 1999 to 2009. He is now Professor Emeritus in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University. There he conducted the Concert Choir, the Men’s Glee Club and taught graduate and undergraduate conducting. Prior to coming to this position, he taught and conducted at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey, for twenty years. From 1992 to 1994, he served as Westminster’s Interim Dean.
A native of Mobile, Alabama, he studied at Florida Statue University and earned his Bachelor’s degree from Westminster Choir College in 1959. At Westminster he was a soloist with The Westminster Choir under the founder of the school, Dr. John Finley Williamson, and performed with other such conductors as Bruno Walter, Leonard Bernstein, and Herbert von Karajan. In 1964 he received a Master of Music degree from The Catholic University of America. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Westminster.
in 1959, Professor Crowell entered the U.S. Army as a member of The United States Army Chorus of Washington, D.C. and served for five years as bass soloist and enlisted leader until 1964 when he received a direct commission to Second Lieutenant. He then became Associate Bandmaster of The United States Army Band and Director of The United States Army Chorus – a position he held until July, 1979, when he retired as Executive Officer and a Major.
As a vocal soloist, he has appeared with Washington’s National Symphony, the New Jersey Pops, and, among others, the orchestras of Baltimore, Annapolis, Trenton, and York, Pennsylvania; the Paul Hill Chorale, the Princeton Pro Musica and the Washington Cathedral Choral Society. In May 1966 and 1967, he was the bass soloist for the famous Bach Festival of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
For many years, Professor Crowell has worked closely with the musical youth of the nation conducting All-State Bands and Choruses, Honors groups, festivals and clinics from Florida to Montana and Maine to Alaska. In March, 1995, he led the first National Men’s Honors Choir at the National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association in Washington, D.C. From 1998 to 2003, he was the Music Director of the Ghost Ranch Vocal Camp in New Mexico.
He is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Kappa Kappa Psi honorary band fraternity, an Honorary Life Member of the Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses, and a retired member of The American Bandmasters Association.