Merrill Hall, MU301
Education
- D.M.A., Doctor of Musical Arts, City University of New York, 2010
- M.M., Master of Music, Manhattan School of Music, 1993
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1991
Biography
In demand as a performer on historical oboes, Owens has appeared with many of North America's period-instrument ensembles, including American Bach Soloists, Apollo’s Fire, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, and Tempesta di Mare. Owens has made solo appearances with Arcanum, Berkshire Bach, Chatham Baroque, Four Nations, REBEL Baroque Ensemble, and the Sebastian Chamber Players. Owens has been hailed for “technical precision and overall sensitivity” by Tom Marks (KCMetropolis.org, Kansas City’s Online Journal of the Arts), and for “tender expression” by Corinna Fonseca-Wollheim (New York Times).
At home in the Washington, D.C. area, Ms. Owens plays with Opera Lafayette, the Folger Consort, the National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort, the Friends of Fasch, and Modern Musick.
On the other end of the performance practice spectrum, Ms. Owens enjoys playing modern and contemporary chamber music for woodwinds, and has premiered a number of new works featuring oboe and English horn. She has recorded for the Naxos, Koch International Classics, and Eclectra labels.
Owens has lectured on and led recreations of dramatic masquerades by the Philidor family of wind players. She studied baroque oboe with Randall Cook and Washington McClain. In addition to her appointment at the Early Music Institute, Ms. Owens teaches modern oboe at George Mason University and is the founder and director of George Mason’s new baroque chamber orchestra.