About the Director

Joshua Allen has directed the Talkington Orchestra program since 2009 and has overseen its development from the ground up.  Dr. Allen has a Doctorate of Music Education from Boston University, a Master of Music degree in Music Composition from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Wayland Baptist University where he studied alto saxophone and viola.  He completed his dissertation for the DMA in Music Education in the Spring of 2020; his research was centered on the effects of peer collaboration on the development of effective goal setting and the implementation of practice strategies in at-home practice.  In 2023, Dr. Allen was awarded the designation of MASTER TEACHER by LISD through the TEA Teacher Incentive Allotment for Orchestra; he was redesignated as MASTER TEACHER for AP Music Theory in 2025.  Dr. Allen is also an aspiring composer.  His arrangements and original works are often premiered by Talkington students; some of his works, most notably his arrangements of popular 80's rock ballads and contemporary movie music, have been performed by musicians around the world.  When he is not teaching and conducting his students in the Talkington Orchestra program, Dr. Allen enjoys performing as a violist with Lubbock Civic Orchestra, Southwest Symphony Orchestra of Hobbs, the Big Spring Symphony Orchestra, and occasionally as a sub for the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra; he also loves to mountain bike, kayak, fish, drive his 2005 Jeep TJ with the top down, and spend time with his wife, Rachel, and son, Larry Jack.