Fresh off receiving a Redden Award for Excellence in Lighting Design last week at LDI, Butch Allen discusses his second year on the faculty of the Concert Master Classes.

Allen joins a prestigious panel of designers on December 4 at USC to discuss Fixture Choices: Spots, Washes, Conventional, Automated, & LEDs. His co-panelists include creative consultant Jeff Ravitz, Anne Militello, Jim Lenahan, and Steve Cohen.

Butch Allen was the production designer for Glee Live (photo: Christine Goodwin).

The panel will discuss why and when they choose particular instrument types, with examples and demonstrations. "The Concert Master Classes offers easy, direct access to designers, manufacturers, and folks that might just share some goals and interests with you," says Allen. "It's a 'backstage view' to the process and evolution of concert design, or a single concert design. It's one thing to read it and another experience to hear about it in person."

Allen says he loved the experience of participating in the classes last year. "It's very energizing to be in a room with young designers and their hunger for experience and knowledge," he says. "I encourage the dialogue!"

For his panel, Allen says he is also curious to hear how his colleagues manage to keep up with the amount of new technologies that flow across their desks, "and how they deal with the volume of tools we have to choose from."

A smattering of the artists Allen has been associated with over the years include Van Halen, Yes, Def Leppard, Hole, Seal, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Garbage, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, Eagles, Metallica, Usher, NKOTB, Jennifer Hudson, America’s Got Talent Live, Dancing With The Stars Live, Nickelback, No Doubt, Black Keys, and Glee Live.

For more information or to register, check out our CMC web page. Check out the full schedule here.

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