Tom Allen was born in Montreal. He worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, toured with the Great Lakes Brass and began working for the CBC on his 30th birthday, a very long time ago. He has written books, created and hosted countless shows for theatre companies and orchestras, as well as touring a series of chamber musicals with his beloved, the harpist Lori Gemmell. Those include The Missing Pages, Being Lost and JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow, plus a forthcoming exploration of the music of deep geological time with the poet Don McKay. Tom was recently granted an honorary Doctoral degree from Brandon University. His latest project is an 18th century-style Classical Musick Almanack, being created with illustrator Ian Bell, built on gossip, smut, steampunk technology and, within certain limitations, history.
