John Owings, United States, 1st Prize, 1975

Following his early musical training in his native Texas, John Owings studied at the Royal College of Music in London as a Fulbright Scholar. Later, his studies took him to Switzerland, Italy and The Juilliard School, where he received his Master’s Degree. His teachers have included Dalies Frantz, Rosina Lhevinne, Martin Canin, Karl Leifheit, Geza Anda and Wilhelm Kempff.

In addition to first prize in the 1975 Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition in Cleveland, Mr. Owings won the1968 London Liszt Society Competition and the Musical Arts Competition in Chicago in 1980. He has served on the juries for major international competitions including the Casadesus, the Gina Bachauer, and the Beethoven in Vienna.

Since making his orchestral debut with the San Antonio Symphony at the age of 15, Mr.Owings has appeared as soloist with the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, the Boston Pops, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestras of Colombia and Peru. He has performed recitals in major cities in the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Far East and has been a guest artist at numerous music festivals. Since 1998 he has performed six times at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall on the MidAmerica Chamber Music Series. His CD recordings on the Koch International Classics label, as well as his newly released CD of piano music by Robert Casadesus for Opus Millésime have received outstanding reviews.

Since 1990 John Owings has been a member of the faculty of Texas Christian University where he holds the Herndon Professorship of Music. In 1993, the University conferred upon him its highest award, the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Research and Creative Activity, for his performances of the 32 Beethoven Sonatas.

Mr. Owings’ website is www.johnowings.com