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date = "2015-04-07T17:03:00-04:00"
discipline = "Bass-baritone"
lastmod = "2015-04-07T17:03:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1428440536122/Eric_Owens_-_Audition_Headshot_-_credit_Dario_Acosta.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Dario Acosta."
publishDate = "2015-04-07T17:03:00-04:00"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/canadian-opera-company.md", "scene/companies/the-metropolitan-opera.md", "scene/companies/lyric-opera-of-chicago.md"]
slug = "eric-owens"
title = "Eric Owens"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Facebook"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://www.facebook.com/ericowensbass"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Twitter"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://twitter.com/EricOwensSinger"

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Bass-baritone Eric Owens has a unique reputation as an esteemed interpreter of classic works and a champion of new music. Equally at home in orchestral, recital, and operatic repertoire, Mr. Owens brings his powerful poise, expansive voice, and instinctive acting faculties to stages around the world.

In the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Owens performs Sarastro in _The Magic Flute_ and Ferrando in _Il trovatore_ at the Glimmerglass Festival, while serving as Artist in Residence for the festival’s Young Artist Program. He also sings in a pop-up concert in New York City alongside other soloists and members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Previously scheduled engagements include returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Vodnik in _Rusalka_, San Francisco Opera as Rocco in _Fidelio_, Los Angeles Opera as Ramfis in _Aida_, and Washington National Opera as Don Fernando in _Fidelio_, as well as performances of Beethoven’s _Missa Solemnis_ with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In the 2019-2020 season, Mr. Owens starred as Porgy in James Robinson’s production of _Porgy and Bess_ at the Metropolitan Opera, the recording of which won the 2021 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. He had also been scheduled to return to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Wotan in Sir David Pountney’s production of the complete _Ring_ Cycle, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, and to sing King Marke in _Tristan und Isolde_ at Santa Fe Opera, conducted by James Gaffigan. In concert, he performed Schubert’s _Winterreise_ with pianist Jeremy Denk at the Los Alamos Concert Association, and had been scheduled to sing Jochanaan in _Salome_ with the Malmö Symfoniorkester.

In the 2018-2019 season, Mr. Owens returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago to make his role debut as the Wanderer in David Pountney’s new production of _Siegfried_. He also sang Porgy in James Robinson’s new production of _Porgy and Bess_ at Dutch National Opera and made his role debut as Hagen in _Götterdämmerung_ at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Philippe Jordan. Concert appearances included the world premiere of David Lang’s _prisoner of the state_ with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, the King in _Aïda_ with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Muti, Verdi’s _Messa da_ _Requiem_ with the Minnesota Orchestra, and Mozart’s _Requiem_ with Music of the Baroque. Mr. Owens also embarked on multi-city recital tour alongside tenor Lawrence Brownlee.

Mr. Owens has created an uncommon niche for himself in the ever-growing body of contemporary opera works through his determined tackling of new and challenging roles. He received great critical acclaim for portraying the title role in the world premiere of Elliot Goldenthal’s _Grendel_ at Los Angeles Opera, and again at the Lincoln Center Festival, in a production directed and designed by Julie Taymor. Mr. Owens also enjoys a close association with John Adams, for whom he performed the role of General Leslie Groves in the world premiere of _Doctor Atomic_ at San Francisco Opera, and of the Storyteller in the world premiere of _A Flowering Tree_ at Peter Sellars’s New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna and later with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. _Doctor Atomic_ was later recorded and received the 2012 Grammy for Best Opera Recording. Mr. Owens made his Boston Symphony Orchestra debut under the baton of David Robertson in Adams’ _El Niño_.

Mr. Owens’s career operatic highlights include performances at the Metropolitan Opera as Alberich in the _Ring_ cycle, directed by Robert Lepage, Orest in Patrice Chereau’s production of _Elektra_, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vodnik in _Rusalka_, conducted by Sir Mark Elder, Voice of Neptune in _Idomeneo_, conducted by James Levine, and Jaufré Rudel in Robert Lepage’s production of _L’Amour de loin_, conducted by Susanna Malkki; at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Wotan in David Pountney’s new production of _Die Walküre_, as well as Vodnik and Porgy; at Washington National Opera as the title role of _Der Fliegende Höllander_, Filippo II in _Don Carlo_, and Stephen Kumalo in Weill’s _Lost in the Stars_; at Houston Grand Opera as Don Basilio in _Il barbiere di Siviglia_ as well as Ramfis; at Santa Fe Opera as La Roche in _Capriccio_; at the Glimmerglass Festival as the title role in _Macbeth_ and Collatinus in a highly-acclaimed Christopher Alden production of Britten’s _The Rape of Lucretia_; at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Oroveso in _Norma_; at Canadian Opera Company as the title role in Handel’s _Hercules_; and at Opéra national de Paris as Sarastro in _Die Zauberflöte_. A former member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Mr. Owens has sung Sarastro, Méphistophélès in _Faust_, Frère Laurent in _Roméo et Juliette_, and Aristotle Onassis in the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s _Jackie O_ (available on the Argo label) with that company. Additionally, he is featured on the Nonesuch Records release of _A Flowering Tree_. Mr. Owens is an avid concert singer, and collaborates closely with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, and Franz Welser-Möst.

He has been recognized with multiple honors, including the Musical America’s 2017 “Vocalist of the Year” award, 2003 Marian Anderson Award, a 1999 ARIA award, and second prize in the Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition, as well as at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition. In 2017, the Glimmerglass Festival appointed him as its Artistic Advisor.

A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Owens began his musical training as a pianist at the age of six, followed by formal oboe study at age eleven under Lloyd Shorter of the Delaware Symphony and Louis Rosenblatt of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He studied voice while an undergraduate at Temple University, and then as a graduate student at the Curtis Institute of Music. He currently studies with Armen Boyajian. He serves on the Board of Trustees of both the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and Astral Artistic Services. Starting in 2019, Mr. Owens became the co-chair of the Curtis Institute’s opera department.