Morris Murdock Escorted Tours

Dr. Brady Allred is Artistic Director and Conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists, an organization of seven choral ensembles. Honored as “one of Utah’s Top 25 Cultural Power Brokers,” he has guest conducted, adjudicated, and given master classes throughout Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. He is a winner of the European Grand Prix, two First Prizes and the Conductors Prize at the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition, and holds MM and DMA degrees in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. Prior to his full-time appointment as Artistic Director of SLCA, Dr. Allred was a Professor at the University of Utah and Duquesne University, Conductor of the Butler Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, and a singer with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers and Oregon Bach Festival Chorus.

Artistic Director and Conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists in Salt Lake City, Utah, Dr. Brady R. Allred has developed "an international reputation for excellence." Under his direction the Salt Lake Choral Artists, a community choir of 200 singers, has achieved critical acclaim for their innovative concerts and Summer Choral Institute program. 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 Florilege Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition, Grand Prize at the European Grand Prix International Choir Competition, and First Prize at the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition. His choirs have also earned awards for performances of their commissioned pieces, and Dr. Allred has been awarded for Best Interpretation of 20th Century Music and the Conductor's Prize.

Under his energetic leadership, Dr. Allred's choirs have completed ten international tours of Europe and concert tours of Canada and Israel. In 2011, he will appear at the World Choral Symposium in Argentina with the newly formed Salt Lake Vocal Artists, who recently participated in the 42nd Abesbatza Lehiaketa International Choral Competition in Tolosa, Spain, returning with 4 First Place prizes. In the United States, his choirs have toured extensively, including performances in Avery Fisher Hall and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for conventions of the Music Educators National Conference, Chorus America, and the American Choral Directors Association.

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. He 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 competition in Germany. He joined juries in Slovenia and Spain in 2008, and adjudicated in Bandung, Indonesia in 2010.

Dr. Allred is also known for his innovative programming, and regularly commissions new works for his ensembles. In 2009, the University of Utah Singers won a prize in Marktoberdorf for the premiere of Nancy Wertsch's "Hail Holy Light." The group won a similar prize in Tours in 2005 for William Hawley's "Flos ut rosa Floruit." Additionally, Dr. Allred has worked with cutting-edge artists and composers such as the Kronos Quartet and Mark Grey, with whom he plans to collaborate further in the future.

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, and in 2007 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.

Dr. Allred earned his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting degrees from the Eastman School of Music, and his Bachelor of Music degree in Theory/Composition and Flute Performance from Brigham Young University. He and his wife, soprano Carol Ann Allred, have traveled and performed extensively as Artistic Ambassadors for the United States Information Agency. They have four daughters and make their home in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dr. Allred's ensembles, known around the world for "exquisite choral singing," have been invited to participate in major festivals including the 12th International Choir Festival en Provence, the Festival des Choeurs Laureats; the 19th Festival "Choralies de Vaison-la-Romaine", and the Nancy Festival International Chant de Choral. In the United States, his choirs have toured extensively, including performances at the Division and National Conventions of the American Choral Directors Association and the Music Educators National Conference in New York City at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing.