Allen Biggs is principal percussionist with the Santa Rosa Symphony. He has been a member of this orchestra for 25 years, during which time he worked with music directors Corrick Brown, Jeffrey Kahane and Bruno Ferrandis . He is also a member of the California and Napa symphonies, having performed with the former organization since that group’s first concert 22 years ago. Other groups he has appeared with include the San Francisco Opera, Marin Symphony and Oakland East Bay Symphony.
Biggs is currently the percussionist for the musical Wicked in San Francisco . In that capacity, he plays an arsenal of 48 instruments, ranging from sound effects such as water-phone, trine and bird flappers, to more conventional instruments such as xylophone, vibraphone, chimes, timpani and tam-tam. He was the first percussionist to play Wicked, when it opened in San Francisco seven years ago.
For many years Biggs performed at the Cabrillo and Mendocino music festivals. He has appeared at the San Francisco Jazz Festival with Dave Brubeck, and was a member of the Bay Area Jazz Composer’s Orchestra. Recently he performed at Yoshi’s San Francisco with Constant Creation, and is a member of the band Fish Finder.
The CD Lamentations and Praises, which won two Grammy awards, features Biggs performing with Chanticleer. He can be heard on the recent cast album of A Chorus Line, which was nominated for a Grammy. Other recordings include Kurt Weill’s Happy End, and Baz Luhrman’s La Bohème. Biggs has also recorded television spots for MetLife, is featured on a Volkswagen commercial broadcast during the Super Bowl, and played the percussion tracks heard as the theme music for Cinearts movie theatres.
An avid educator, Biggs teaches percussion at San Francisco State University . The popular middle school steel band he directs in Marin City recently performed with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. Biggs coaches percussionists in the youth orchestras of Santa Rosa , Marin, Oakland and San Francisco symphonies. A product of the public school system himself, Biggs does outreach in the schools for the Santa Rosa and California symphonies.
Biggs received his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University , and a Master of Music degree from The San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Barry Jekowsky. He studied ear training and eurhythmics with James Wimer. In addition to percussion, Biggs studied classical guitar and jazz piano as a boy.
Born and raised in San Francisco , he had the opportunity to live in Spain and Eastern Europe when he was young. Through these travels, Biggs developed an interest in world music, a hobby he still actively pursues today. His preferred means of transportation is his bicycle.
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