Allan Kristensen

Allan Kristensen has been involved in music for more than 60 years, with his start at age five on the accordion that led him to the drums when he joined the Golden Eagles Drum Corps (later creating the Sunnyvale Knight Raiders) at age eleven.  It was at the Knight Raiders that Allan was taught by Santa Clara Vanguard snare drummer, Rick Dobbs, which set him on the path to successfully join SCV, working his tail off to please Bob Kalkofen and to keep up with three of the best snare drummers in the world:  Paul Siebert, Rob Carson, and Curt Moore.

1974’s Vanguard was so musical and he particularly loved Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.  1975’s snare line was crazy with talent, with performances that seemed to reach another level of consciousness.  In 1976, the brand-new percussion staff of Gerry Kearby and Ralph Hardimon took Allan on as a de facto staff member.  

Marching percussion has been a constant in Allan’s life.  After his marching years, he taught drum corps in San Jose, Seattle, and Salem in the United States, and Toronto and Edmonton in Canada, finally ending up teaching at Santa Clara in 1986 and 1987.  He has composed and arranged music for over 100 drum corps, marching bands, and indoor percussion ensembles throughout the U.S., Canada, and England.

Allan’s drum corps training combined with his studies with Tony Cirone at San Jose State University developed the skills for him to eventually perform with orchestras throughout his career in the Bay Area, Portland, and Fresno.

Allan found that he had a love of teaching and music education while working as a percussion director and student teacher for Dan Smith from 1976-1981 at Independence High School, which went on to twice take high percussion at Bands of America during that time.  In his years as a band director, Allan’s concert bands and marching ensembles earned consistent superior ratings and awards at local, state, and national events.  He has served as President of both the Fresno-Madera Music Educators Association as well as the Western Band Association.  After 25 years in the music classroom, Allan turned to arts administration, serving first in the Madera Unified School District and then in Fresno Unified as the Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator.  It was while he was at Fresno Unified, that he successfully brought together the district and the city’s arts leaders together to partner with The Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child Initiative, which continues to grow and bring arts education to thousands of Fresno students.  

Allan has been the Fresno-Madera Music Teacher of the Year as well as the California Music Educators’ Association Administrator of the Year, and currently serves on the board of the American College of Music.

His judging career started in the mid 1970’s with a push from Rick Dobbs, and instruction, guidance, and mentorship from Ron Sorenson, Paul Wojtena, Gus Barbaro, Len Carey, Tom Roe, Dan Smith, Shirlee Whitcomb, Mike Rubino, and current Judge Administrator John Phillips.  He has been selected to be part of the DCI Championship week for 4 decades, and has judged in 11 World Class Finals and 6 Open Class Finals, and was the DCI Percussion Caption Head and Judge Liaison for 6 years.  During the Fall each year, Allan judges throughout the country with local band circuits and Bands of America, and has been invited to judge their Grand Nationals 11 times, with 5 of them on Finals night.  Allan has also judged indoor percussion throughout the country during the winter seasons.  His judging has also taken him to Southeast Asia on several occasions.  Drum Corps International will induct him into the DCI Hall of Fame in the Summer of 2025.

Allan’s loves of his life are his wife, Kim, and daughter, Ryann.