Clinicians
The South Region Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Dan Allcott. Dan Allcott has been Music Director of the Bryan Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestral Activities at Tennessee Tech since 2003. He has also held positions with the Tennessee Philharmonic (Murfreesboro), Oak Ridge Symphony, Asheville Lyric Opera, and Atlanta Ballet. Dan has conducted world premiers by composers Lucas Richman, Stefan Freund, Rachel DeVore Fogarty, Mark Harrell, and Greg Danner, and was an original commissioner of the League of American Orchestras “Made in America” project, giving the Tennessee premier of a work by Joan Tower.
Among the orchestras he has conducted are the Indianapolis and Dallas Symphonies, the Danish Radio Orchestra, Eastern Sierra Chamber Orchestra, Asheville Lyric Opera and Orchestra Iowa, and he is the former Artistic Advisor for Eastport Strings in Maine. An accomplished cellist, he continues to perform nationally, concertizing with the Cumberland Piano Trio, Isotone New Music Group, and teaches and performs each year at the Tennessee Cello Workshop in Knoxville. He is also on the faculty of SummerKeys music festival in Lubec, Maine. He has collaborated with internationally known classical and crossover artists such as: Tracy Silverman, Rachel Barton Pine, Mark Kosower, Jason Vieux, New Birth Missionary Baptist Choir, Indigo Girls, and many others.
Dan holds a masters degree in cello performance from Indiana University where he completed his coursework towards the Doctor of Music in both conducting and cello performance before moving to Atlanta to become Music Director of Atlanta Ballet. At IU he served as Associate Instructor of Conducting and conductor of the New Music Ensemble. Concurrently, Allcott was appointed the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Conducting Fellow, a position he held for three years. In 1998, Mr. Allcott was named the first Herbert von Karajan Fellow of the American Austrian Foundation at the Salzburg Festival and was subsequently accepted to conduct in the Nicolai Malko and Grzegorz Fitelberg competitions in Europe.
The South Region String Orchestra will be conducted by Susan Mullen. Susan Mullen currently holds the position of Orchestra Director at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, TN, is the current conductor of the Lionheart Chamber Orchestra in Murfreesboro, and serves as assistant concertmaster in the Tennessee Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ms. Mullen has been committed to music education throughout her career. She has shared her knowledge and passion on both national and international stages. For more than a decade, she has served on the teaching staff of several institutions, including The Tennessee Valley Music Festival in Huntsville, The Huntsville Symphony Orchestra and the Festival Internacional de Música Cóbano in Costa Rica.
Ms. Mullen’s dedication to nurturing young talent is exemplified by her co- founding and 11-year tenure as the Music Director and Conductor of the Murfreesboro Youth Orchestra. Her commitment to music education is further reflected in her service as the President of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teachers Association, where she helped advance string education. Additionally, she has contributed as the Orchestra Representative of the Middle Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association.
Ms. Mullen earned her Masters of Music from the University of Wyoming and furthered her studies at the Conservatory of Neuchatel in Switzerland as a Rotary International Scholar. She lives in Murfreesboro with her husband Dennis, where they enjoy hiking in Tennessee and beyond.
