Martin Owen

Who is Martin Owen?

Martin Owen is a British horn player. After studying at the Royal Academy of Music, he became Principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra between 1998 and 2008. Since 2008 Owen has retained the position of Principal horn with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Martin Owen regularly plays guest 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".