Allen Hightower serves as the Director of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas, where he leads the graduate program in choral conducting and oversees a comprehensive choral program of eight ensembles. Allen is the conductor of the UNT A Cappella Choir and Grand Chorus, which collaborates with the UNT Symphony Orchestra in performances of choral-orchestral masterworks. As a member of UNT’s Early Music faculty, he leads the vocal ensemble Vox Aquilae, an artistic partner of the UNT Baroque Orchestra. Since arriving at UNT in 2016, the A Cappella Choir has received invitations to perform for the Texas Music Educators Association in 2020, the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association in 2021, and the Southwestern Region of ACDA in 2022. Vox Aquilae and the UNT Baroque Orchestra were featured at the 2022 conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization.
Dr. Hightower held the Weston Noble Endowed Chair in Music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he was conductor of the renowned Nordic Choir and artistic director of Christmas at Luther. He has served Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches in Texas, California, and Minnesota, and currently serves at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Allen has served as the Church Music Vice-President of the Texas Choral Directors Association and as an adjunct professor at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Allen is the Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus and the Artistic Director of the Zion Lutheran Bach Cantata Series in Dallas, Texas.