Ann Allen

Photo: Daria Kolacka

morethanmusic was set upin 2004 to bring a new approach to music combining a wide interest in the arts with a desire to make concerts audience friendly, interesting..... and sexy.

here is a little bit of background to morethanmusic's director
Ann Allen:

music
i fell in love with the power of music at an early age and was soon playing recorder and oboe in school ensembles and local orchestras. After studying musicology at Manchester University, baroque oboe and the recorder at the Royal Academy of Music (London), I moved to Switzerland to continue my studies on these instruments at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel). While I was there I delved even further back in time and ended up with a diploma in Medieval Studies specializing on the shawm.

Since finishing I seem to be looking forward in time working with electronic and world musicians as well as working as a freelance classical musician playing baroque oboe and shawm with leading ensembles in England and Europe.

theatre
thanks to my grandfather and great-grandmother I have acting in the blood and over the years my passion for the stage has become greater and greater. School plays led to university theatre groups and even in Basel I have found English speaking companies with which to work.

I began directing opera productions in Manchester when I put on Purcell's 'Timon of Athens' in my final year and have since worked on several productions in Switzerland including 'Cephale et Procris' in Les Museiques Festival, Basel,  ' Il Sacrifizio d'Isacco' at Muri Kloister and 'King Arthur' a co-production between Theater Basel and the Musik Akademie Basel. Under the patronage of the Ross Live Festival, UK,  I have staged several operas over the years including Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas', Mozart's 'Bastien and Bastienne' and Lampe's 'Dragon of Wantley' which were all received with great acclaim.
 
dance
to move to music is one of the best experiences a human can enjoy. I have a profound love of dancing and moving to music and to complement my musical studies I have been studying Renaissance, Baroque and Arabic dance styles. I am now treading the murky waters of trying to re-invent medieval dance practices from pictures, texts and folk traditions.

teaching and workshops
i enjoy teaching and running workshops in music and/or dance and like to combine patience with optimism to create a warm and open environment which is great for learning. Combining years of Alexander Technique lessons, with other body work and introducing movement and fun, everyone can find the true performer within them by striping away the worries and tension and tapping into the natural talent.