Allan J. Ontko received the Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ, in 1969,
having studied organ performance with Mary Krimmel, George Markey, William Whitehead, and G. Dene Barnard, and vocal performance with Lois Laverty and Ramon Kyser.
He studied composition with Warren Martin and David Stanley York.
Ontko's output numbers about 31 works, not including juvenilia, most of which are so far unpublished.
In 1994 he was awarded second prize (no first was awarded) in the competition sponsored by the Guild of Carillonneurs of North America (GCNA) for his carillon piece Cortége. The work is now published by GCNA. A further carillon piece, commissioned by John Widmann of Frederick MD, was recently completed.
A Concerto in D for Organ, Strings, and Timpani was performed in 1995 in a Spotlight Series concert at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church during the Spoleto Festival. Two competition works, a set of slightly whimsical carillon pieces, and an organ arrangement of a clever march for concert band followed a year later. In 1997, Ontko completed a short song cycle for high voice, based on five selected poems from the Songs of Experience of William Blake.
Works in progress include a cycle of songs based on poems by Robert Service, and a second organ symphony.
A very long-term project is a cantata for chorus, soloists, strings, and organ, based on an English translation of George Herbert's Latin poem cycle Passio Discerpta (The Events of the Passion).
For further details, see Ontko Pipe Organs