The following is extracted from Volume I of the 1986 edition of South African Music Encyclopedia (J.P. Malan, ISBN 0 86965 586 8)
DENISE ALLEN, soprano, born in London
Daughter of a professional pianist and singer and grand-daughter of an Australian singer, Denise Allen came to South Africa in 1940, returned to England in 1946 for further study at the Royal Academy of Music and has since appeared in coloratura parts of operettas and operas produced by the Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society and OPSA. In collaboration with Richard Cherry, who arranged the pianoforte accompaniments, she has also written scripts and composed. Since 1970 Denise Allen has often taken part in cabaret shows for which she sang mainly continental songs in eight languages. For radio and television she has also prepared programmes of folk songs. Since 1949 she has composed about 28 lyrics, both words and music, often in English and Afrikaans.
