Allan Rae is a Canadian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, and trumpeter based in Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...

. An associate and former board member of the Canadian Music Centre

Canadian Music Centre

The Canadian Music Centre holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music. The CMC exists to promote the works of its Associate Composers in Canada and around the world....

 and a member of the Canadian League of Composers

Canadian League of Composers

The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. The activities of the League are overseen and directed by an executive and a National Council...

, he is particularly known for his works for the theatre which include several musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

s and opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s as well as incidental music

Incidental music

Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....

. He has been commissioned to write music for productions mounted by the National Arts Centre

National Arts Centre

The National Arts Centre is a centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, between Elgin Street and the Rideau Canal...

, the Shaw Festival

Shaw Festival

The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...

, and the Stratford Festival. Since 1985 he has been composer-in-residence at Alberta Theatre Projects

Alberta Theatre Projects

Alberta Theatre Projects is a Canadian theatre production company, founded in 1972, based at the Martha Cohen Theatre in Calgary, Alberta....

. He has also written numerous symphonic

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

 and chamber works

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

, including commissions for the Calgary Philharmonic and the Calgary Youth Orchestra.

Rae studied composition and arranging at the Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music

Berklee College of Music, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known primarily as a school for jazz, rock and popular music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including hip...

. He later studied electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 and composition with Samuel Dolin

Samuel Dolin

Samuel Joseph Dolin was a Canadian composer, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers , he served as the CLC's vice president in 1967-1968 and president from 1969-1973...

 at The Royal Conservatory of Music from 1970-1973. He began his career as a trumpeter in the Canadian Army Band. He worked for CBC Calgary TV and radio as a composer and conductor from 1966-1970. He served briefly on the music faculty at the RCMT in 1973-1974.