Charles Owen

Described by Gramophone magazine as ‘one of the finest British pianists of his generation,’ Charles Owen has enjoyed an extensive international career performing a wide ranging repertoire to outstanding critical acclaim. He has appeared at London’s Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Halland regularly gives recitals at the Wigmore Hall and Kings Place. Internationally, he has performed at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, the Brahms-Saal in Vienna’s Musikverein, the Paris Musée d’Orsay and the Moscow Conservatoire. His chamber music partners include Julian Rachlin, Chloe Hanslip, Augustin Hadelich and Nicholas Daniel as well as the Vertavo, Takács and Elias Quartets.
Charles studied in London at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music with Irina Zaritskaya and Imogen Cooper. His numerous awards include the Silver Medal at the Scottish International Piano Competition (1995) and the 1997 Parkhouse Award.
A regular guest at festivals such as Aldeburgh, Bath, Cheltenham and Leicester, as well as Perthin Australia, he has also performed concertos with the Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National, Hallé, Aurora and London Philharmonic orchestras. He has enjoyed collaborations with many leading conductors including Sir Mark Elder, Ryan Wigglesworth, Nicholas Collon and Martyn Brabbins.
Charles’s solo recordings comprise discs of piano music by J.S. Bach, JanáÊek, Poulenc and Fauré. Chamber music discs include the cello sonatas of Brahms, Rachmaninov and Chopin with Natalie Clein, The Stravinsky Piano Ballets with Katya Apekisheva and the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Piano Quintet with the Sacconi Quartet. The latter was named Recording of the Month by Gramophone Magazine in August 2017.Charles Owen is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School in London and was appointed Steinway & Sons UK Ambassador in 2016.