John Allen is a musician, creator, and educator in demand at leading music conservatories, colleges, and universities across the country. He teaches students the modern skill sets required for today’s music careers and tomorrow’s stages, recording studios, and festival circuits.
He has held repeat residencies at the Cleveland Institute of Music (Cleveland, OH), Terra State College (Fremont, OH), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV), College of Southern Nevada (North Las Vegas, NV), and Tacoma Community College (Tacoma, WA). His educational work has also brought him to the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, University of South Carolina Upstate, Yakima Valley College, and Fullerton College, and he has both performed and taught at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles. He has also served as a member of the Nevada Arts Council and as the City Of Henderson (Nevada) Artist-In-Residence.
With more than a decade of experience in public education, Allen’s workshops have been widely adopted within the K–12 sector. He has led programs at middle schools and high schools nationwide, consistently earning high praise from educators—one director noting simply, “Workshops don’t get any better than this.”
Allen’s reach extends internationally through his work as a featured writer and educator for LoopingLive.com, a UK-based online publication dedicated to live looping and creative music technology. There, he authored numerous articles empowering artists worldwide and conducted in-depth interviews with leading figures in the live looping community.
Since 2023, he has toured nationally with Stardust: An Immersive Live Music Experience, a groundbreaking production he created from the ground up. From concept to execution, he shaped every element of the show, blending music, technology, and immersive storytelling into a singular artistic vision.
The result is a one-of-a-kind performance that has captivated sold-out planetariums nationwide. Each show features an improvised, ambient live-looping score — composed and performed in real time — set against stunning 360-degree, 4K space footage exploring humanity’s relationship with the cosmos.
When not on tour, Stardust is in residency at the Dale Etheridge Planetarium at the College of Southern Nevada.
John Allen has earned multiple high-profile endorsements and sponsorships, including BOSS–Roland Artist/Educator, Electro-Voice Artist/Educator, AKG Artist, and Dark Matter Audio Artist and Tascam. In January 2026, he was featured as an artist/educator at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim, California, representing BOSS–Roland. He is widely recognized as a leading figure in the live looping community and its emerging pedagogy. (Live looping is a music performance technique in which a musician records and layers sounds in real time.)
When not touring as a performer or educator, Allen is based in Southern Nevada, where he operates a private teaching studio with students from around the world. Many of his students have gone on to professorships, TEDx talks, and national press recognition.
Follow his creative and educational work at JohnAllenLoops.com and on Instagram/Facebook @JohnAllenLoops.