The Amnrican oboist, Margaret Owens, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Oboe from University of North Carolina at Greensboro (1991); and her Master of Music degree in Oboe from Manhattan School of Music (1993), in the studios of James Prodan and Joseph Robinson. In the studio of Ronald Roseman, she earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the City University of New York (2010), where she began her work on the oboe band tradition at the courts and chateaux of Louis XIV. Subsequently, she has lectured on and led recreations of dramatic masquerades by the Philidor family of wind players. Her study of Baroque oboe with Randall Cook and Washington McClain began at the Amherst Early Music Festival.
In demand as a performer on historical oboes, Margaret Owens appears with many of North America’s period-instrument ensembles, including American Bach Soloists (Director: Jeffrey Thomas), Apollo's Fire (Director: Jeannette Sorrell), Ars Lyrica Houston, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Mercury Baroque, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Director: Jeanne Lamon), and Tempesta di Mare. Recent concerts include solo appearances with Arcanum, Berkshire Bach, Chatham Baroque, Four Nations, REBEL Baroque Ensemble, and the Sebastian Chamber Players. Her recent performance with REBEL of J.S. Bach's Concerto in A major for oboe d’amore was hailed as “a beautiful interpretation” for its “technical precision and overall sensitivity” by Tom Marks of KCMetropolis.org (Kansas City’s Online Journal of the Arts). At home in the Washington, D.C. area, she plays with Opera Lafayette, Folger Consort, National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort (Director: J. Reilly Lewis), Friends of Fasch, and Modern Musick. On the other end of the performance practice spectrum, she 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.
Margaret 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, she teaches modern oboe at George Mason University and is the founder and director of George Mason’s new Baroque chamber orchestra. |