Allen Otte

Allen Otte is a percussionist, composer, and educator known for his central role in American contemporary percussion. Born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, and long based in Cincinnati, he co-founded the Blackearth Percussion Group in 1972 and Percussion Group Cincinnati in 1979, touring worldwide and premiering new works written for him and his colleagues. He is professor emeritus at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and in 2017 Percussion Group Cincinnati was inducted into the International Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. With John Lane he performs the evening-length social-justice work The Innocents, built from found objects, homemade instruments, electronics, and spoken text.