sar·don·ic: Skeptically humorous, derisively mocking.
phil·har·mon·ic: Devoted to or appreciative of music.
ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE
Brendan Allen created The Sardonic Philharmonic as a way to have his music performed. When you go to college to get a formal education in music composing you are surrounded by student musicians and ensembles who play your music for you all the time. Outside of college it can be difficult to hear your music unless you are a well known enough to be commissioned to write some new music. Or you can just do it yourself!
So with the Tacoma PorchFest as his goal for a first ever performance, he began to beg musicians to please please please join his group. The musicians assembled for the inaugural performance bring a wealth of experience! These musician can be seen playing in the Rainier Symphony, Tacoma Community College Symphonic Band and Orchestra, Tacomarama Community Street Band and many other ensembles performing throughout the Puget Sound region. They are music educators, students, professional performers and enthusiastic amateurs. Brendan extends his gratitude to all these wonderful performers in helping bring new music into the world.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Brendan Allen has been making music ever since he was tall enough to reach the piano keys to bang on them. In the fourth grade he started learning the clarinet and by junior high he taught himself piano and guitar. After high school he began collecting and teaching himself any instrument he could get his hands on. Highland bagpipes, violin, accordion, trumpet, flute, oboe, cello, erhu, mellophone, trombone, etc. Not that he plays any of them particularly well but as John Lennon put it, “I’m an artist and if you give me a tuba I’ll bring you something out of it.”
His musical writing evolved from high school punk rock and ska, to elaborate indie pop and alternative rock. But it wasn’t until 2021 when he realized that he needed more than just guitar, bass, drums with a quirky horn for embellishment. He needed the full power and might of eighty musicians playing together in a symphony orchestra! The problem was, he has zero training in composition, music theory or orchestration… only the drive to create music.
So after plenty of youtube composing tutorials, thumbing through some texts books, and a hand full of composition lessons he was composing “classical” music! But his music just sat on a computer hard drive, which is not a good place for new music to live. So he conned a bunch of very talented musicians to play music well below their pay-grade for Brendan’s composing debut at Tacoma’s PorchFest! And he called it, The Sardonic Philharmonic.
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