Opera Singer. A mezzo-soprano, she combined a long performing career with that of a distinguished teacher. Raised in Ohio, she developed an early love for opera by listening to her immigrant neighbors' radios. Oprhaned at 12, she lived in foster care until earning a scholarship to Wilberforce College at 16; there she received her first formal vocal training (as a classmate of Leontyne Price). She later studied with Zinka Milanov, and obtained a degree from the Hartford School of Music. In the early 1950s, Allen studied at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein, and was later to join him in numerous appearances with the New York Philharmonic. Her New York City Opera debut came as Queenie in Jerome Kern's "Show Boat" in 1954; 1958 saw her launch her recital career (which often featured the work of Virgil Thompson and Ned Rorem) at New York's Town Hall. She was later to sing with Erich Leinsdorf, Charles Munch, and other conductors of the day. Miss Allen made her operatic bow at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires in 1964; her San Francisco debut came in 1966, and was followed by appearances with the Canadian Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, and other companies. Among her noted roles were Teresa in Bellini's "La Sonnambula", Jacosta in Igor Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex", and Mistress Quickly in Verdi's "Falstaff". She first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in February, 1973, as Commere in a production of Virgil Thompson's "Four Saints in Three Acts", and later sang on the first recording of the work. During the mid-1970s, she was to sing with City Opera, earning praise as Bergonia in Hans Werner Henze's "The Young Lord". Allen was a professor at the Manhattan School of Music from 1969 until her death. She also taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, directed the Harlem School of the Arts from 1979 until 1992, and served on the boards of Carnegie Hall, New York City Opera, and the Manhattan School of Music. She died of renal failure.