Dr. Brady Allred - Acclaimed Musician and Choral Conductor

Lineage: Brady, Freddy, Leslie, Alvin, Isaac Morley, Isaac, William, Thomas, Solomon born 1680 Lancashire, England

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by Larry Cooke Allred (written 2013)

Dr. Brady R. Allred, is an acclaimed musician and choral conductor. He has an international reputation for excellence.  Under his energetic leadership, Dr. Allred’s choirs have completed twelve international tours of Europe, Canada, Israel, Argentina and Italy.  He currently serves as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under his direction, the Salt Lake Choral Artists, an organization of sevens choirs of 300 singers, has achieved critical acclaim for their innovative concerts and Summer Choral Institute program.

Prior to his work in Utah, Dr. Allred was the Music Director and Conductor for the Butler Symphony Orchestra, Director of Choral Activities at Duquesne University, and Artistic Director and Conductor of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh.

In addition to his accomplishments, his wife, soprano Carol Ann Allred, is an Adjunct Professor of Voice at the University of Utah and has sung with many orchestras and choirs around the world. Their oldest daughter, Loren, 22, a singer was a contestant on The Voice television program in 2012.

Brady is the son of Freddy Russell and Arleen Harding Allred.  He was born in Provo, Utah, in 1961. His father was a civil engineer. His early years were spent in Los Angeles and then Anacortes near Seattle, Washington, and then back to Utah.  When he was in the second grade, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. They spent ten years in Memphis.  He began piano lessons in the third grade after his grandmother gave him a little electronic organ when he was six or seven.  He remembers his grandmother coming into his room and hearing him make up songs. His mother then began piano lessons for him. He began practicing the organ at church. At age 11 he became the Sunday School organist.

While the family lived in Memphis, they visited numerous Civil War battlefields and other historic sites. They talked about Allred family history and were aware his family lived from 1805 to 1830 in Bedford County about 60 miles south of Nashville. Later he read an article about his ancestor, Isaac Allred (1790-1870) who played the violin. He said he felt a real connection to Isaac.

During high school, he was heavily involved with music. He attended the performing arts school, Overton High School in Memphis, where he became interested in other musical instruments. He played the clarinet, oboe and then the flute. He also began to do some conducting at school and also church. In high school, he participated in the marching band, concert band, orchestra and the choirs. He played in the Tennessee All State Band and the All State Orchestra, and the Memphis Youth Symphony.  He earned his Eagle Scout from the Boys Scouts of America while living in Tennessee.

His varied musical interest led him to a music degree at college. Dr. Allred earned his Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, and his Bachelor of Music degree in Theory/Composition and Flute Performance from Brigham Young University. His wife, Carol Ann Goodwin Allred also holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Brigham Young University and a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music.  They are the parents of four daughters, Loren,
22, a pop singer; Megan, 20, cellist and gifted artist; Brennan, 16, pianist, and Karin 13, plays the flute and the piano and she loves ballet.

Their daughters love to sing together. As young girls they were taught to sing harmony in the bathtub. Their oldest daughter, Loren, attended school at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. She was discovered by a record producer who signed her to a record contract in New York.

While living in Pittsburgh, Brady was honored in Pittsburgh Magazine for “Excellence in the Arts.” Dr. Allred was nominated for a Creative Achievement Award as an “Established Artist” by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. In 2007 he was honored by the Utah Music Educators Association with a Superior Achievement award and selected for recognition in the International Who’s Who in Choral Music.

The Allreds often perform together. While Carol Ann sings, Brady Allred is her accompanist. They have performed throughout Italy, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and the Azores as Artistic Ambassadors for the United States Information Agency. They also performed two concerts at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Bombay, India.  Dr. Carol Ann Allred was recently appointed to the vocal faculty at the University of Utah and was also a faculty member at the New York State Summer School of the Arts at SUNY Fredonia.  She has also been a member of the music faculty
at Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Brady has been a guest conductor for the Schumann Chamber Orchestra in Italy, the Wroclaw Philharmonic in Poland, the Symphonic Orchestra of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and the Salt Lake Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He has also performed with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus. In May 2007 he was the American judge on the international jury for the Marktoberdorf choir competition in Germany.  Since then he has joined juries in Slovenia, Indonesia, China, Bulgaria, Belgium, and Korea.

 

Formerly Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and the first recipient of the Ellen Neilson Barnes Presidential Endowed Chair for Choral Studies at the University of Utah, Dr.
Allred was recently selected by The Salt Lake Tribune as one of Utah’s Top 25 Cultural Power Brokers.  Known around the world for “exquisite choral singing,” Dr. Allred’s ensembles have been invited to participate in major festivals and have received honors including the Grand Prize at the Florilège Vocal de Tours International Choir
Competition, Grand Prize at the European Grand Prix International Choir Competition, and First Prizes at the Arezzo, Italy and Tolosa, Spain International Choir Competitions.  His recordings can be found on iTunes and YouTube with over 100 videos.  His websites are bradyallred.com and saltlakechoralartists.org.