Editing Allen Shawn

{{short description|American composer and writer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Allen Shawn
| birth_name         = Allen Evan Shawn
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1948|8|27}}
| birth_place        = New York City, U.S.<ref>New York, New York, Birth Index, 1910-1965</ref>
| relatives          = [[Wallace Shawn]] (brother)
| parents            = {{ubl|[[William Shawn]]|Cecille Lyon}}
| education          = [[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[Columbia University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])
| occupation         = Composer, pianist, educator, author
| spouse             = {{ubl|{{marriage|[[Jamaica Kincaid]]|1979|2002|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Yoshiko Sato|2007}}}}
| years_active       = 
| children           = 3
}}
'''Allen Evan Shawn''' (born August 27, 1948)<ref name="marriage">''Vermont, Marriage Records, 1909-2008''</ref> is an American composer, pianist, educator, and author based in [[Vermont]].

==His music==
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]].

==As author==
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,<ref>Shawn, Allen. Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life (New York: Viking, 2007)</ref> and ''Twin: A Memoir'', also about Mary and his relationship with her.<ref>Shawn, Allen. Twin: A Memoir (New York: Viking, 2011)</ref>  He discussed ''Twin'' with [[Terry Gross]] on [[WHYY-FM|WHYY]]'s ''[[Fresh Air]]'' on January 3, 2011.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/03/132618326/parallel-lives-having-a-twin-with-mental-illness|title=Parallel Lives: Having A Twin With Mental Illness|work=NPR.org|access-date=2018-03-21|language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kalvos.org/shawnal.html|title=Allen Shawn, Nonpop New Music Composer|website=kalvos.org|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref>

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.<ref name="marriage"/>

==Books==
* ''Arnold Schoenberg's Journey'' (New York: [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]], 2002, {{ISBN|0374105901}})
* ''Wish I Could Be There: Notes from a Phobic Life'' (New York: [[Viking Press|Viking]], 2007, {{ISBN|9780670038428}})
* ''Twin: A Memoir'' (New York: Viking, 2011, {{ISBN|9780670022373}})
* ''Leonard Bernstein: An American Musician'' (New Haven: [[Yale University Press]], 2014, {{ISBN|9780300144284}})
* ''In the Realm of Tones: A Composer's Memoir'' (University of Rochester Press, 2025, {{ISBN|9781648251177}})

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://kalvos.org/shawnal.html Allen Shawn biography]
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7494941 Terry Gross ''Fresh Air'' interview with Allen Shawn], NPR.org, February 20, 2007.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120224000546/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Allen&last=Shawn&middle= Allen Shawn] at the [[Lortel Archives|Internet Off Broadway Database]]
* [http://members.aol.com/chaspen/shawn.html Allen Shawn Biography] at Chaspen Foundation for the Arts
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080619092130/http://www.bennington.edu/acad_fac_shawna.asp Resume] at Bennington College

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawn, Allen}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:American music educators]]
[[Category:Bennington College faculty]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Educators from New York City]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American classical composers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Composers from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Bennington, Vermont]]
[[Category:Writers from New York City]]
[[Category:American twins]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]
[[Category:Schoenberg scholars]]