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Young, Owen

Cellist who attended Tanglewood Music Center and Yale University and studied under Michael Grebanier, Aldo Parisot, and Anne Martindale Williams.

In 1986, he toured Europe as the principal cellist with the Yale Symphony Orchestra and became a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1991.  Other groups with whom he has worked include the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, Innuendo, the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the Melrose Symphony Orchestra, the Music Alive Ensemble, the New Hampshire Philharmonic, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the Parkway Concert Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Racine Symphony Orchestra, the Ritz Chamber Players, the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, and the San Antonio Chamber Orchestra.

He is also a part of James Taylor’s band and appears on the 1993 double CD, Live, which cracked the top twenty on the Billboard album chart.  His discography also includes American VisionsHoliday PopsThe Latin AlbumMy Favorite Things:  A Richard Rodgers Celebration and A Splash of Pops by the Boston Pops, Chris Brubeck:  Danzadel Soul/Michael Gandolfi:  Line Drawings/Lucas Foss:  Central Park ReelLeave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant, and Live at the Beacon Theatre by James Taylor.

In June 1999, he participated in the Next Generation Festival, where he and pianist Awadagin Pratt, violinist Derek Reeves and violist Amadi Hummings performed Giya Kancheli’s “Piano Quartet in L’istesso Tempo”.  The program was rounded out by Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Sonata No. 2 in D” and Johannes Brahms’ “String Sextet in B flat, Op. 18”.

He and Amadi and pianist Sandra Rivers were the guest artists of the Music Alive Ensemble at the University of New Orleans in 2001 where they performed Brahms’ “Piano Quintet”.

On 17th March 2002, the Renard Quartet, which was rounded out by violinists Bonnie Bewick and Alexander Velinzon and violist Rachelburg, gave a recital under the umbrella of the Needham Concert Society.

Amadi, Awadagin, Derek and Owen reunited on 8th September 2002 at the Gateways Music Festival in Bates Recital Hall, where they offered up Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Duet with Two Obbligato Eyeglasses in E flat major, WoO 32”, “Sonata for Piano and Cello in A major, Op. 69” and “Trio in G major, Op. 9, No. 1” and Johann Halvorsen’s “Passacaglia in G minor for Violin and Viola on a Theme by Handel”.

In April 2005, Owen and fellow cellist Ronald Crutcher were guest soloists with the Boston Classical Orchestra in a concert that included concertos by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Francois Couperin, and Antonio Vivaldi.

Soprano Janna Baty and Owen were the featured soloists on 2nd December 2006 when the Longwood Symphony Orchestra performed Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphony No. 1” (“Jeremiah”), Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture” and Camille Saint-Saens’ “Concerto for Cello and Orchestra”.

On 30th June 2007, he was part of an all-star extravaganza at the Tanglewood Music Festival which was immortalized on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion.  Jamie Laredo and James Taylor were on-hand for a smorgasbord of music that ranged from The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky to “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by Frankie Lyman.

He was the guest soloist of the Cape Ann Symphony in September 2007, when they performed the aforementioned Saint-Saens cello concerto as well as the overture from Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber and “Symphony No. 5” by Beethoven.

On 15th January 2008, he and violinist Brian Lewis joined forces with the Miro Quartet at the St. Barth Music Festival on Felix Mendelssohn’s “Octet”.

He and pianist Alan Murchie appeared at the Lenox Chamber Music Festival on 28th July 2008, when they performed “Seven Variations for Cello and Piano on the Duet ‘Bie Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen’ from Mozart’s The Magic Flute”, Brahms’ “Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 38”, Gabriel Faure’s “Elegie for Cello and Piano, Op. 24” and Camille Saint-Saens’ “Sonata for Cello and Piano and C minor, Op. 32”.

On 25th September 2008, he and Kate Markowitz and James and Catherine Taylor were musical guests at the Clinton Global Initiative Awards in New York City.

He was a special guest artist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic at the Palace Theatre in Manchester on 27th October 2008, where he soloed on Robert Schumann’s “Cello Concerto”.  The concert opened with “Peer Gynt Suite No. 1” by Edvard Grieg and concluded with “Symphony No. 9” by Dmitri Shostakovich.

On 23rd November 2008, he and violinists Jason Horowitz and Elita Kang and violist Rebecca Gitter took part in the Inside Out Series at Arlington Street Church in Boston where they interpreted “String Quartet No. 2” (“Intimate Letters”) by Leos Janacek.

He and pianist Sergey Schepkin and violinist Lucia Lin shared the stage at 92Y Tribeca in New York on 24th February 2009, when they performed “Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66” by Mendelssohn.  They reprised this piece on 3th May 2009 at the All-Newton Music School and rounded out the recital with Brahms’ “Sonata No. 3 in D minor for Violin and Piano, Op. 108” and the aforementioned Halvorsen “Passacaglia”.

On 8th September 2009, he and James Taylor helped Oprah Winfrey kick off her 24th season with a sing-along of “How Sweet it Is (to Be Loved By You)”.

The Boston Pops rang in the holiday season in December 2009 with their annual Holiday Pops concert, a mixed array that included a version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” that managed to incorporate Beethoven’s 5th and “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

In January 2010, James Taylor with his trusty cellist by his side gave a concert to benefit Haitiat the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, which is housed in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Owen and fellow musicians Cristina Catt, Linda Cutty, Takaaki Masuko and John McDonald gave a faculty recital at the Longy School of Music on 1st March 2010 that included “Tango Nuevo”.

On 7th March 2010, he was a guest soloist with the Parkway Concert Orchestra in Dedham, Massachusetts, for a performance of Dvorak’s “Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104”.

Members of the BSO appeared in an “Inside Out Strings & Horn” concert at Arlington Street Church on 23rd May 2010.  This one featured “Horn Quintet in E flat, K. 407” by Mozart, with soloist Eli Epstein.

On 6th November 2010, Lucia Lin and Owen were the soloists when the Melrose Symphony presented Beethoven’s “Egmont Overture”, Brahms’ “Double Concerto for Violin and Cello”, and Stravinsky’s 1919 version of The Firebird.

Members of the BSO descended upon Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, on 13th March 2011, when they performed Haydn’s “String Quartet in D, Op. 50, No. 6” (“The Frog” and Franz Schubert’s “String Quartet in C, D. 956”.

On 27th March 2011, another “Inside Out” concert took place at Arlington Street Church, this one featuring music of Beethoven.  The “Inside Out String Quartet” comprised Owen and violinists Jason Horowitz and Julianne Lee and violist Rebecca Gitter.

Owen and pianist Joy Cline Phinney and violinist Lucia Lin performed works by Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Dvorak and Erwin Schulhoff at the All-Newton Music School on 10th April 2011.

On 1st July 2011, he found himself in familiar territory as James Taylor joined forces with the Boston Pops and John Williams at Tanglewood.

He and violinists Jason Horowitz and Elita Kang and violist Rebecca Gitter performed quartets by Beethoven and Faure at the Lenox Athenaeum on 25th July 2011.  Proceeds from the concert went to the Berkshire Humane Society.

In November 2011, this same group gave a pair of recitals at Hingham Congregational Church and St. John’s Episcopal Church that included Beethoven’s “String Quartet No. 3 in D, Op. 18, No. 3” and Schumann’s “String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1”.

In the field of music education, Owen has taught at Boston Conservatory and the Longy School of Music.

Sources:

  1. http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2008-07/features/people-new-england-meet-fun-qu/musician
  2. http://www.ritzchamberplayers.org/about/players
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_%28James_Taylor_album%29
  4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_the_Beacon_Theatre
  5. http://modeweekly.com/2000/00.05.25/00.05.25_next_gen_festival.htm
  6. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1132198/a/Latin+Album.htm
  7. http://www.musicaliveno.com/events.html
  8. http://www.needhamconcertsociety.org/history.html
  9. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/3115695/a/My+Favorite+Things%3A+A+Richard+Rodgers+Celebration.htm
  10. http://www.gatewaysmusicfestival.com/articles/pratt.htm
  11. http://www.bostonclassicalorchestra.org/about/messages-from-board/
  12. http://www.longwoodsymphony.org/images/Repertoire_List_2000-2011.pdf
  13. http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2007/06/30/music.shtml
  14. http://www.capeannvacations.com/festival-event.cfm?id=608
  15. http://weekly97.o2switch.net/pdf/Weekly%20135.pdf
  16. http://www.lenoxathenaeum.org/pdfs/youngAndMurchie.pdf
  17. http://www.katemarkowitz.com/news.shtml
  18. http://www.nhphilharmonic.org/ContactUs/PressReleases/PressReleases07-08.html
  19. http://www.eliepstein.com/pastevents.html
  20. http://www.schepkin.com/Frame-2-concertspage2.html?refresh=1271607503985
  21. http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/James-Taylor-Performs-Youve-Got-a-Friend-Video
  22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suosLwFyFls
  23. http://www.necn.com/Boston/Arts-Entertainment/2009/12/10/Boston-Pops-prepare-to-kickoff/1260453532.html
  24. http://www.discogs.com/Natalie-Merchant-Leave-Your-Sleep/release/2751626
  25. http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts/james-taylor-helps-raise-more-than-500000-for-haiti/4159/
  26. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtLMxDX7n00
  27. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRcsKLsoysI
  28. http://artscalendar.endicott.edu/EventList.aspx?view=EventDetails&eventidn=288&information_id=1606&type=&rss=rss
  29. http://www.yoichiudagawa.com/twothousandten.html
  30. http://www.allnewtonmusicschool.com/concerts/wolf3.html
  31. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erwin_Schulhoff
  32. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/music/1111/classical/brubeck_gandolfi_foss.htm
  33. http://referencerecordings.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html
  34. http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/07-02-2011_james-taylor-marathon-at-tanglewood.htm
  35. https://www.formspring.com/forms/?627616-dZWaRtCYIz
  36. http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/showthread.php?75963-New-Faculty-at-Berklee-Fall-2011-%28Mandolin-content!%29
  37. http://melrose.patch.com/events/melrose-symphony-opening-fall-concert
  38. http://www.patriotledger.com/entertainment/x267837044/Boston-Symphony-quartet-plays-at-Hingham-church
  39. http://www.bso.org/media/3161204/ccc_11-12_final_brochure.pdf
  40. http://www.goldstar.com/events/boston-ma/boston-classical-orchestra-viva-vivaldi
  41. http://www.yoichiudagawa.com/saintsaens.html
  42. http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/owen-young/887155