Baritone, Peter Allen, and his accompanist, Paul Machlin of Falmouth, were honored to be invited to perform in Scotland at St Andrew and St George West Church during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival which is held concurrently with the world renowned Edinburgh International Festival in August. For over 70 years, the finest performers from the worlds of dance, opera, music and theatre have gathered in Edinburgh to perform during the three week event. According to Allen, “Fringe’s more than 3,400 performances take place in over 300 venues around the city, all within 25 days. The mood of the city is electric.”
Allen and Machlin performed an evening-long program entitled “America’s Diversity in Song” which included folksongs and spirituals, jazz, and broadway from many of American’s best known composers. From Aaron Copeland, to Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington, Kurt Weill, Charles Ives, and Harry T. Burleigh, the program, focused on the early 20th century, celebrates the diversity that immigrants have brought to American music.
“The audience was very appreciative and enthusiastic,” said Allen. Their concert was performed as a fund-raiser for their host organization, VOCAL, which supports unpaid care givers in the Edinburgh area. They were invited to perform by a friend of Machlin’s who is on the board of VOCAL.
Photo credit Bruce SmithPaul Machlin accompanies Gorham resident, Peter Allen (standing), during their benefit concert as part of the Edinburgh, Scotland Fringe Festival.
Music is in Allen’s blood. He grew up in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and has been singing his whole life: as a young child, in church choirs, in his teens at the Arundel opera company, and throughout his college years at Bates College, where he graduated in 1966. He attended USM for two years and took voice lessons with Robert Russell and Bruce Fithian. Speaking about his passion for music, Allen said that he loves connecting and creating a bond with his audience. He added, “I love using my voice, and indeed my whole body, in the creation of something hopefully beautiful and uplifting.”
Over the years, Allen has been a member of a variety of singing groups performing in a variety of musical genres: a Renaissance group called the Cornish Trio, the Bel Canto Quartet, with Ellen Chickering, Gabriella Mira and Bruce Fithian, and a pop/jazz a cappella group Referendum. He began soloing with local orchestras and choruses in the late 80’s, singing mostly oratorio repertoire (Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, Beethoven, Bach). He has also sung operatic roles with PORT opera and Surry Opera, with whom he toured the then-Soviet Union in 1988. Allen has had roles in local stage productions of Oliver! (as Fagin), Man of La Mancha (as Cervantes and Padre), and Oklahoma! (as Curly, when Allen had more hair than he currently has).
With Allen on vocals and Machlin on piano, the two have been performing together since 1985. As a professor of music at Colby College, and conductor of the Colby-Kennebec Choral Society and Colby College Chorale, Machlin would often call Allen to perform baritone and bass roles in the groups’ concerts. Both are retired now, Allen from teaching English as a Second Language to students in Standish and Windham school districts, leaving more time for performing.
Local audiences will be able to enjoy Allen and Machlin in an upcoming recital concert for the benefit of Safe Passage Guatemala on November 3 in Gorham. The venue and time will be announced soon in the Gorham Times. The concert will also include a guest performance by Portland-based soprano Bonnie Scarpelli.
After the concert in Edinburgh, Allen (whose maternal great-grandparents were Scots) and his husband, Bruce Smith, extended their trip, visiting the Cairngorm Mountains, Inverness and the Oban Highland Games. A highlight was a boat tour to the beautiful Islands of Mull, Iona and Staffa, before leaving Scotland to spend a few days in the Yorkshire and County Durham in northern England.