Sound Ideas Interviews: Tom Allen

Through my years of elementary and high school, my radio would wake me up each morning with this next guest on the other side of the microphone. Like thousands of Canadians, I learned a great deal about classical music from Tom Allen and his CBC morning show Music and Company. Today, he can be heard hosting Shift on CBC Radio Two.

Tom has his own unique way of speaking about classical music. It’s never about the year a composer was born or whether the exposition is binary or not. Tom has a wealth of stories about the composers and musicians that he uses to contextualize the music. This Saturday, he is bringing these stories to Kingston, to present his Classical Good Times show with the Kingston Symphony.

I spoke with Tom about what composers he tires of, whether classical music will return to public consciousness and more.

Interview: Tom Allen