Matthew Owens

Matthew Owens was appointed Organist & Master of the Choristers of Wells Cathedral in June 2004, taking up the post in 2005.

He was previously Organist and Master of the Music at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh (from 1999-2004) and Sub Organist of Manchester Cathedral. He is also Tutor in Organ Studies at Wells Cathedral School (one of the four specialist music schools in England), Conductor of the Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society, Artistic Director & Conductor of The Exon Singers, and President of the Cathedral Organists’ Association. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of two initiatives at Wells: Cathedral Commissions, a scheme which enables the cathedral choir to commission new works from pre-eminent British composers; and new music wells, a festival which is a retrospective of the last forty years of music as well as featuring many premieres.

Born in 1971, Matthew studied at Chetham’s School of Music and was subsequently Organ Scholar at The Queen’s College, Oxford from where he graduated in music. As a postgraduate he received the highest award for performance, the Professional Performance Diploma, with distinction, and the college Bach prize at the Royal Northern College of Music; gained a Master’s Degree from the University of Manchester; won thirteen prizes in the diplomas of the Royal College of Organists and was awarded the Silver Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He then studied at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. His major organ studies were with Gordon Stewart, Margaret Phillips and Jacques van Oortmerssen. From 1994-99, he was Tutor in Organ Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and Chetham’s and worked for BBC Religious Broadcasting.

Matthew worked extensively with Michael Brewer as Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain from 1993-1999; he has also conducted the BT Scottish Ensemble, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of St Mary’s Music School, Wells Cathedral School Chamber Orchestra, Devon Baroque and the Sarum Orchestra. He is in demand for choral workshops, masterclasses and adjudications in the UK and abroad (including forthcoming visits to Australia and New Zealand), and has made over twenty-five CDs as a conductor or solo organist with Albany, ASV, Blackbox, Delphian, Herald, Hyperion, Lammas and Regent record labels.

As an organist, Matthew has given recitals in France, Ireland, Switzerland and throughout the UK, including festival appearances at Carlisle, Lichfield, Newbury, Oxford and Peterborough and at venues such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral and St John’s Smith Square. He has championed new music, particularly of British composers, premiering many new works by leading composers ranging from Jools Holland to James MacMillan, and John Rutter to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He is also active as a composer, and some of his works have been recorded for commercial release and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.