Charles Owen

Described by Gramophone magazine as “one of the finest British pianists of his generation”, Charles Owen has performed worldwide to outstanding critical acclaim.  He has appeared at London’s Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and regularly gives recitals at the Wigmore Hall. 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, Adrian Brendel, and Nicholas Daniel as well as the Takács, Vertavo, Carducci and Elias quartets.

Charles studied in London at the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Royal College of Music with Irina Zaritskaya and later furthered his studies with Imogen Cooper. He has won numerous awards, including the Silver Medal at the Scottish International Piano Competition (1995) and the 1997 Parkhouse Award with the violinist Katharine Gowers. A regular guest at festivals such as Aldeburgh, Bath, Cheltenham, Leicester, West Cork and Perth, Australia he has also performed with the Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National, London Philharmonic and the Moscow State Academic Symphony orchestras. Charles’ solo recordings include discs of piano music by Janácek, Poulenc ”“ a Gramophone Editor’s Choice ”“ for SOMM and the complete Nocturnes and Barcarolles by Fauré for AVIE Together with Natalie Clein, he has recorded the cello sonatas of Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninov and Chopin for EMI. Charles Owen is a Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London.