Rashaan Rori Allwood

Events

  • Closing Concert – Organ / Choir / Orchestra - Caroline Robinson / Renée Anne Louprette/Amanda Mole organ; Auburn Symphony, Wesley Schulz, conductor; Seattle Pro Musica, Karen P. Thomas, conductor - Benaroya Hall - Fisk Organ
    200 University Street
    July 7, 2022 @ 7:30 pm
    The gala Closing Concert at Benaroya Hall includes the 2021 Marilyn Mason competition winner, Rashaan Rori Allwood’s “In Memory of...” for solo organ and speaker. The concert features works for choir and organ, including James MacMillan’s “Cantos Sagrados,” and a commission from the 2020 Atlanta National Convention by Eric Nelson. Works for organ and orchestra include Judith Bingham’s “Jacob’s Ladder” and David Briggs’s “Concerto for Organ and Orchestra.” Performers include organists Amanda Mole, Caroline Robinson, and Renée Anne Louprette; Seattle Pro Musica, conducted by Karen P. Thomas; and the Auburn Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Wesley Schulz. About "In Memory of..." by Rashaan Rori Allwood, from the composer: “This piece is written as an homage to victims of oppression and hardships. Choose a person or group of persons whose death holds special significance and benefits from awareness. The name chosen should be relevant to your audience. Examples include George Floyd, Ayo Bakole, Breonna Taylor, the Anishinaabe people, etc.” About "The Love of God" by Eric Nelson, from the composer: “For this commission, ‘The Love of God,’ I have taken Frederick Martin Lehman’s text and wedded it to new music for choir and organ, without any reference to the original tune or style period. The choir and the organ engage in a sort of dialogue, joining together only at key moments.” Major funding for this concert is provided by C.B. Fisk. 

Rashaan Rori Allwood
About

Rashaan Rori Allwood is a musician of great versatility. As a pianist, organist and harpsichordist, he has played in a variety of settings, including performances with the Maestro Ken Nagano and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal, Houston Civic Symphony and the University of Toronto’s Collegium Musicum. As a soloist, he has toured across Europe, and performed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, UK, St. Nikolai Kierke in Leipzig, Germany and St. Pierre’s Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rashaan was listed as one of CBC’s 30 under 30 classical musicians and was invited to record excerpts of the Catalogue d’Oiseaux by Olivier Messiaen at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto in 2016 following his Canadian Bi-Centennial tour. The first prize winner of the Concours d’orgue de Québec in 2017 and of the Canadian National OSM Manulife competition in 2016 for the organ category, he also won second prize in the Wadden Sea International Organ Competition and the Lynnwood Farnam Organ Competition in 2017.

Rashaan is currently the director of music at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church, Toronto and a PhD candidate in composition at Western University. He continues to collaborate with a variety of musicians, performing classical and contemporary music.