Jim Allison

Program Director, Classical WETA 90.9 FM

Jim Allison is the program director of Classical WETA 90.9 FM, the exclusive classical music radio station in the nation’s capital. Allison comes to the station from WGMS where he was a program director for 14 years. An accomplished pianist, he received two Piano Performance degrees in the mid-80s: a Bachelor of Music from Duquesne University and a Master of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Lillian Freundlich.

Allison continues to devote time to piano performance alongside his responsibilities at Classical WETA 90.9 FM. He has participated in several competitions for amateur pianists, winning first prize in the Washington International Piano Arts Competition in 2004. During the past two years, he has performed in Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam and Paris as well as at several recital venues in New York and Washington. His performances of Rachmaninoff have been praised by critics as having “power, intelligence and emotional sensitivity” (The Washington Post) and “granitic authority” (Dallas Morning News).

Allison serves on the board of directors of the internationally acclaimed Washington Bach Consort and is a Commissioner of the Arts in the city of Alexandria, Virginia, where he lives. He counts among his other passions traveling internationally to attend Bach and Wagner Festivals, particularly those that involve extended periods of high-speed driving on the Autobahn.