ALLEN LARSEN

I first came across Allen Larsen when he played Trombone in Randy Bjur's band class where I gave a presentation in 1991. He reminded me of this when he contacted CrossSound through his Blatchley Jr. High music teacher Christa Bruce late this spring and introduced himself as a young Alaskan composer who would be interested in working with us on a new piece. Since we set our programs a year in advance — two in this case— we talked about working together in the future, but that we would be interested in an existing piece for July if he had anything short for piano. Allen's "Variations on a Scottish Folktune" for piano solo was not only a perfect fit in our "SeaBoard Alexander" program, but was one of the most popular pieces of our 2003 season.

Allen traveled with us to Juneau, Haines and Anchorage and introduced his music to the audiences before each performance. This was not very easy as Ketchikan is 18 hours by ferry from Juneau, another 5 from Haines, and Allen was confined to a wheelchair after a long time battle with MS. Allen was very patient with us and let us know exactly what he needed without any outward sign of frustration from our ineptness or the lack of convenient disabled facilities in the state. Allen was always good humored and direct as Alaskans are, and he added a unique voice to our project. CrossSound is honored to have had the opportunity to meet and work with Allen this summer. We are truly sorry that this relationship cannot be an ongoing one.