Shea Owens

Baritone Shea Owens was recently a guest soloist with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for its “Love Thy Neighbor” special event. He was also recently a member of the soloist ensemble at Theater St. Gallen in Switzerland, where his roles included Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, Marcello in La bohème, Valentin in Faust, and Alvaro in Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, among others.

On the concert stage he sang Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Cimarosa’s Il maestro di cappella, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, and Haydn’s The Seasons with the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen. He sang Colonel Ricci in Sondheim’s Passion at the Théâtre du Chátelet and joined the orchestra of the Grand Théatre de Genève in concerts of well-known operatic repertoire. While living in New York he was a frequent guest with the New York Festival of Song and was an extra chorister at the Metropolitan Opera. He received training as a young artist at Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Central City Opera, and the Tanglewood Music Center. He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Brigham Young University and his Master of Music from Rice University.

Mr. Owens is now the Director of Opera at Brigham Young University and sang his first performances of the title role of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the university’s choirs at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. This past season he returned to Utah Opera as Samuel in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance after previously joining the company as a member of its Resident Artist Program. Along with traditional operatic and concert work, he especially enjoys the challenge and novelty of interpreting the works of contemporary composers and has sung Charlie in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers alongside legendary mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade. He also recently recorded an album with his wife, soprano Madison Leonard, and pianist Artem Belogurov titled To the Thawing Wind: Songs of Paul Edward Gay.

Upcoming engagements include a guest recital at Auburn United Methodist Church, his soloist debut in Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony with the Southwest Symphony in Utah, the role of Mercutio in Central City Opera’s Roméo et Juliette this coming summer, and the baritone soloist in Carmina burana with Theater St. Gallen next fall.

Education:

• MM, Rice University
• BM, Brigham Young University