Allen Otte

Allen Otte came to the University of Cincinnati in 1977 with The Blackearth Percussion Group which he co-founded in 1972; in 1979 he founded Percussion Group/Cincinnati. The three members of the Group are faculty and ensemble-in-residence at the conservatory with an international touring schedule of concerts, concerto appearances, masterclasses, and childrens programs. A large body of new and often experimental music has been created specifically for the Group throughout its history, which has included special relationships with John Cage, Herbert Brun, John Luther Adams, and Qu Xiao-song. Otte is professor of percussion, teaches eurhythmics, composition, various literature seminars, and coaches and conducts traditional and contemporary chamber music. He is a regular summer faculty member at Oberlin where he has also done a course in traditional and creative music for Javanese gamelan. With and without the Group he has concertized, recorded and taught throughout North America, Europe, and in Asia, including solo concerts and guest presentations in Shanghai, Saarbrucken, Aukland, and at Tanglewood. As both percussionist and composer he works with soprano Audrey Luna, poet Don Bogen, and in computer music with Mara Helmuth; he has also worked in Lucca, Italy with opera director Malcolm Fraser creating experimental music theater pieces. The evening-length monodrama CLOTHO for percussionist, soprano, and computer, based the life of Camille Claudel, was premiered in 2001; music for Shakespeare's The Tempest in '02. A CD of 5 collaborative works with Mara Helmuth is available on EMS; Percussion Group Cincinnati is recorded on Mode and their own label, ars moderno.