Allen Evan Shawn (born August 27, 1948)[2] is an American composer, pianist, educator, and author based in Vermont.
Shawn began composing at the age of ten, but dates his mature work from 1977.
Among Shawn's available recordings are several of chamber music, four CDs of piano music, including a CD devoted to his piano work by German pianist Julia Bartha, a piano concerto performed by Ursula Oppens with the Albany Symphony Orchestra under the direction of David Alan Miller, and the chamber opera The Music Teacher, with a libretto by his brother, Wallace Shawn.
[4] He discussed Twin with Terry Gross on WHYY's Fresh Air on January 3, 2011.
[6] He teaches composition and music history at Bennington College and was formerly married to novelist Jamaica Kincaid, with whom he has a son, Harold, and a daughter, Annie.