Biography

When pianist Allen Reiser made his London, England concerto debut in 1978 as the winner of the Croydon Symphony Orchestra Soloist Award, one reviewer wrote:

It was clear from his opening flourish in Rachmaninoff's First Piano Concerto that he is a player not only of dynamic brilliance but of mellow touch...on the evidence of this fresh, youthful, yet mature performance, the 25-year-old Canadian could be quite a find.

Well-known throughout Western Canada, pianist Allen Reiser has been guest soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Calgary, Victoria and Montreal as well as with various other orchestras in Canada and in England. Recital engagements have taken him to nearly every major centre in Western Canada, and he has been a guest recitalist at the prestigious Gina Bachauer International Piano Festival in Salt Lake City. Allen Reiser's recitals are an eclectic mix of standard works for the keyboard sprinkled with unusual and less frequently performed works taken from the peripheries of the keyboard's repertoire. He has a particular affinity for, and interest in, Canadian piano music and the music of Franz Liszt. In the spring of 2001 he released his first CD - A Canadian Piano Album - which received a Prairie Music Award nomination in the category of Outstanding Classical Recording. His second CD - Sonatinas and Little Sonatas - was released in June of 2009; "... a wonderful collection of intermediate-level sonatas and sonatinas." (Clavier - Jan/Feb 2010). His Sonatina album was the basis for a book published in German, simply titled "Allen Reiser", which focuses on the composers present on that CD.

A former student of Peter Katin (England), Dr. Robin Wood (Victoria), and Mary Hughs Fenwick (Calgary), Allen Reiser is an ARCT NATIONAL GOLD MEDALIST of the Toronto Conservatory of Music and a two time recipient of the VICTORIA MEDALLION. In 1992 he was honoured by Mount Royal College (now University) with a DISTINGUISHED FACULTY/TEACHING AWARD. In 2020, he was the recipient of the highly coveted “TEACHER OF DISTINCTION” award from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Allen Reiser has been an instructor at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, The Hindhead School of Music (England), and the Conservatory at Mount Royal College/University. He currently operates a private studio in Calgary. Allen Reiser has been guest piano instructor at a number of summer music schools in Alberta and British Columbia including the Cranbrook Summer Music School, Musicamrose, Sundre's Strings and Keys and Victoria's Piano Summer Music School. For a number of years, he wrote first a CD review column, then a piano Masterclass column for the Alberta Piano Teachers' Association provincial newsletter. He is active throughout Western Canada as a performer, an adjudicator and a master class clinician.