| Allen Shawn | |
| Birth Name: | Allen Evan Shawn |
| Birth Date: | 27 August 1948 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, U.S.[1] |
| Relatives: | Wallace Shawn (brother) |
| Education: | Harvard University (BA) Columbia University (MA) |
| Occupation: | Composer, pianist, educator, author |
| Children: | 3 |
Allen Evan Shawn (born August 27, 1948)[2] is an American composer, pianist, educator, and author based in Vermont.
Shawn began composing at the age of ten, but dates his mature work from 1977. He has written a dozen orchestral works, including a symphony, two piano concertos, a cello concerto, and a violin concerto; three chamber operas; five piano sonatas and many additional works for piano; and a large catalogue of chamber music, songs and choral music. Among Shawn's available recordings are several of chamber music, four CDs of piano music, including a CD devoted to his piano work by German pianist Julia Bartha, a piano concerto performed by Ursula Oppens with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David Alan Miller, and the chamber opera The Music Teacher, with a libretto by his brother, Wallace Shawn.
Shawn is the author of a book about Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg, Arnold Schoenberg's Journey, and a book about Leonard Bernstein, Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician.
He is also the author of Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life, which examines his experiences with anxiety and panic disorder, as well as his relationship with his autistic twin sister Mary,[3] and Twin: A Memoir, also about Mary and his relationship with her.[4] He discussed Twin with Terry Gross on WHYY's Fresh Air on January 3, 2011.[5]
Shawn is a son of The New Yorker editor William Shawn, and the brother of the actor and playwright Wallace Shawn. His family is of Jewish background. He received a bachelor's degree from Harvard University, a master's degree from Columbia University, and studied in France with Nadia Boulanger.[6]
He teaches composition and music history at Bennington College and was formerly married to novelist Jamaica Kincaid, with whom he has a son, Harold, and a daughter, Annie.
He is married to pianist Yoshiko Sato, with whom he has a son, Noa.[2]