Eric Owens (bass-baritone) facts for kids

Eric Owens (born July 11, 1970) is a famous American opera singer. He is known for his deep voice, called a bass-baritone. Eric Owens has performed in many new operas and also in classic ones. In 1996, he won a big singing competition called the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Eric Owens' Early Life and Music Journey

Eric Owens was born in Philadelphia. He started learning to play the piano when he was just 6 years old. He went to the Settlement Music School to study music.

When he was in junior high school, his interest changed to the oboe. He continued his oboe studies at the Settlement Music School. His teacher was Louis Rosenblatt, who played the English horn for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Later, he studied oboe with Laura Ahlbeck, who played for the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. This was while he attended Central High School in Philadelphia.

During his last year of high school, Eric started a special program at Temple University. There, he began to study singing seriously with George Massey. He then went to Temple University as a college student in 1989. He earned a degree in Vocal Performance in 1993. After that, he went to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He studied singing with the famous voice teacher Armen Boyajian.

Eric Owens' Opera Career Highlights

After finishing his master's degree, Eric Owens joined a program for young artists at the Houston Grand Opera. He made his first big performance there as Ramfis in the opera Aida.

Since then, he has sung in many important opera houses around the world. These include:

• The San Francisco Opera, where he first sang as Lodovico in Otello.
• The Royal Opera in London, where he debuted as Oroveso in Norma.
• The Los Angeles Opera, where he first sang as Ferrando in Il Trovatore.
• The Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he debuted as General Leslie Groves in Doctor Atomic.

New Operas and Special Roles

Eric Owens has also performed in several brand-new operas for the very first time. He created important roles like:

• General Leslie Groves in the opera Doctor Atomic by John Adams. This was in 2005 at the San Francisco Opera.
• Grendel in an opera of the same name by Elliot Goldenthal. This was in 2006 at the Los Angeles Opera.
• The Storyteller in another opera by John Adams called A Flowering Tree. This was in Vienna in 2006.

The opera A Flowering Tree was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra. You can find it on a CD from the Nonesuch label.

In September 2010, Eric Owens played the character Alberich in the Met's new show of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. He is also featured on a CD called "Great Strauss Scenes," which came out in 2010. In the 2014-2015 season, Eric Owens sang the main role of Porgy in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Awards and Achievements

Eric Owens has won several important awards for his amazing singing:

• 2012 Grammy Award: Best Opera Recording, for Deutsche Grammophon's Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
• 2011 Grammy Award: Best Opera Recording, for Adams: Doctor Atomic
• 2003 Marian Anderson Award
• First prize in the Plácido Domingo Operalia Competition