BIO
Allan Cate grew up in Altadena, CA, where music was an important part of his life, but not his primary focus. It became that during his years at Reed College (Portland, OR) where he became obsessed with jazz, and also began to study piano and compose music.
Returning to Los Angeles he continued to study music, but, having discovered that he had a mechanical aptitude (and that he needed to find a way to make a living), pursued piano technology as a profession. He spent many years working for the Music Department of Cal. State Northridge and was also the principal piano technician for the L.A. Philharmonic.
Marriage and raising a family limited his musical activities, but when his children were older he began to study and play music more seriously. In 2013 he recorded a CD of original Latin jazz compositions. From 2015 through 2019 he studied Afro Latin Music with Dr. Paul De Castro at Cal State Los Angeles, earning an M.M. degree. His culminating project was a CD, Recuerdos de Cuba, comprised of original music exploring various Cuban musical genres.
In the Fall of 2019, while taking a course in music composition at Pasadena City College, he was given the opportunity to provide music for a student film by Victoria Valverde. This experience led him to enroll in and complete the Film Scoring program at UCLA Extension.