Martin Owen

Martin Owen (born 22 September 1973) is a British horn player, currently holding the position of principal horn with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Owen took up the horn at the age of 13, studying with James Diack at the Royal Academy of Music junior department. He continued his studies by winning a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music (1992–1996) under the professorship of Richard Watkins and later Pip Eastop.

In 1998, Owen joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on 3rd horn, being promoted to Principal six months later, a position he retained for ten years. He then joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra in April 2008.

Martin Owen has played principal horn with the major London Orchestras, and many further afield, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He also has a varied solo career outside the orchestra and appears as soloist and chamber musician in some of the leading music festivals around the world. Owen is a regular performer at the Wigmore Hall, making his debut in 1997 with Benjamin Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings alongside Philip Langridge and Guildhall Strings. Since then he has returned performing the same work with Toby Spence and the Scottish Ensemble. This last collaboration led to a recording for Linn records leading to Paul Driver of the Sunday Times citing "Owen's playing is a luxury for the ear". Other recent recordings include Mozart Horn Concerto No. 4 with the Royal Philharmonic (RPO Classics label), Schubert Octet (Wigmore Hall Live) label, with Michael Collins, Roderick Elms 'Four Seasonal Nocturnes (Dutton label, with RPO), and Danzi Sinfonia Concertante with the Orquestra de Cadaques.

In October 2006, Owen gave the world premiere of Malcolm Arnold's Burlesque for horn and orchestra, with the RPO. The work, a recently recovered fragment, is thought to be part of an unrealized first horn concerto.

Recent performances include Schumann Konzertstuck with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the 2007 Royal Albert Hall Proms, Britten's Serenade at the 2008 Bad Kissingen festival with the BBC Symphony, and the London premiere of the Elliott Carter Horn Concerto and the Barbican Centre, for the composers 100th birthday, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Oliver Knussen.

Owen will perform Oliver Knussen's horn concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in this year's BBC Proms.

Owen's playing can be heard on many movies and television soundtracks, including the Star Wars prequels, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, the latest James Bond releases and Midsomer Murders.

Martin Owen was awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Music in 2006, where he is now Horn Professor (since 2008). Martin is also Horn Professor at Trinity College of Music, London.