BOYD OWEN

BOYD OWEN

The current season has seen Boyd making his debut with new companies and in a number of new roles. He has begun working with Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit (USA), and also continued working in China. In Wuhan he sang his first Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, for Melbourne Opera’s New Year China tour; he debuted his first Puccini role, that of Rodolfo in La Bohème, in the MGlam/Canti Classic’s Opera Series in Shanghai; and he debuted the role of the Evangelist in Bach’s St John’s Passion, also in Shanghai, with conductor Fred Sjöberg and the Shanghai International Choral League. He then joined the Spazio Musica Summer Festival in Orvieto, Italy, to sing his first Elvino in Bellini’s La Sonnambula, overseen by esteemed conductor Maurizio Arena, before returning home to sing Rodrigo in the Australian première of Rossini’s Otello, with Melbourne Opera. He then returned to New Zealand to make his debut as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto, with Eternity Opera in Wellington. Next season he will sing Gerontius in Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the Houston Symphony Chorus.

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Last season began with a very exciting debut for Boyd. He sang the tenor solo in Orff’s Carmina Burana at Carnegie Hall, which marked his classical debut, not only in New York, but also the USA. Immediately following this he returned to Shanghai, China, to sing in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and then won first prize in the Sydney Eisteddfod Operatic Scholarship singing competition.

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Previous seasons included: (Italy) Lindoro in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri conducted by Bruno Campanella (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Florence). Don Narciso in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia (Teatro Municipale di Piacenza and Teatro Alghieri di Ravenna). Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Quint in Britten’s Turn of the Screw (Teatro Comunale di Bologna). Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Teatro dell’Opera Giocosa, Savona). Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore and Don Basilio in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Spazio Musica, Orvieto). (Australia) Riccardo Percy in Anna Bolena (Melbourne Opera). His Symphonic concert work has included: (China) Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Puccini’s Messa Di Gloria (Shanghai). (Italy) Britten’s Ballad of Heroes, conducted by Aziz Shokhakimov (Teatro Comunale di Bologna). Schubert’s Mass in G Major (Alessandria). International Vocal Competitions: First prize in the men’s section of the 18th International Spazio Musica Singing Competition (Orvieto, Italy). Second Prize in the 2015 New Zealand Aria (Rotorua, New Zealand) and the Herald Sun Aria (Melbourne, Australia), and semi-finalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

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He performed with the Australian group The Ten Tenors for many years. His time with the group included numerous highlights: TV appearances such as the Jerry Lewis Telethon, USA; Carols by Candlelight, Australia; Verstehen sie Spass, Germany; and the Allsång festivals in Norway and Sweden; as well as recording the live DVD Amigos Para Siempre in Madrid with the RTVE orchestra. He was the singing voice behind the Foster’s Carlton Draught ad campaign Slow Motion – Made from Beer.

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Boyd Owen is a proud citizen of both Australia and New Zealand, having grown up and studied in Melbourne. He commenced his studies with Peter Mander at the Melba Conservatorium of Music in Richmond, and further studies were with Qilian Chen in Shanghai, China, and Gabriella Ravazzi in Genova, Italy.