Allen Saunders
Allen.Saunders@nau.edu
(928) 523-8858
Building 37, Room 130
Allen Saunders, bass, holds an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, and the Masters and Doctorate degrees from the renowned Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Saunders was a voice pupil of Paul Kiesgen and Roy Samuelsen for modern voice, and Paul Elliott for instruction in early vocal practices.
He has also maintained an active performing schedule, having sung major opera roles for the Indiana University opera theater, the Indianapolis Opera, including Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Dr. Bartolo in Rossini’s Barber of Seville and The Doctor in Berg’s Wozzeck. Allen also sang Doctor Bartolo in Rossini’s Barber of Seville for Indiana Opera North, and Dr. Grenville in Verdi’s La Traviata and the Second Man in Armor in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for the Utah Festival Opera. In 2001, Saunders was the bass soloist for two performances of Mozart’s Requiem Mass in Russia with the State Orchestra of Russia in Moscow and with the St. Petersburg State Orchestra in St. Petersburg. More recent performances include guest soloist appearances in Frigyes Hidas’ Requiem at Middle Tennessee State University in October 2006 and bass soloist with The Viola da gamba Dojo of New York, directed by John Mark Rozendaal in November of 2007. A Handel specialist, Allen recently presented a paper on Baroque ornamentation at The Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities in January of 2008.
Prior to joining the voice faculty at the Northern Arizona University School of Music in August 2008 where he teaches private vocal lessons, master classes, and acts in an advisory role to the NAU Opera, he was the Coordinator of Voice at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne where he taught voice, diction, vocal pedagogy, song literature, and directed the IPFW opera workshop.