Martin Owen, Francesca Dego, Alessandro Taverna
Biography Martin Owen, Francesca Dego, Alessandro Taverna
Martin Owen
is regarded as one of Europe's leading horn players, appearing as soloist and chamber musician all around the world. Martin currently holds the position of Principal Horn at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, having served as Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for ten years, and from 2012-13 was contracted as Principal Horn of the Berliner Philharmoniker. He is also Principal Horn in the California-based chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica and the UK’s Britten Sinfonia and Haffner Ensemble.
Performances include concertos by Mozart, Richard Strauss, Schumann, Messiaen, Britten, Elliott Carter, Oliver Knussen and Thea Musgrave with orchestras including the BBCSO, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Orquesta Nacional de España, The Hallé, New World Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern, Aalborg Symfoniorkester and Baltic Philharmonic, and recitals with Camerata Pacifica.
Martin Owen gave the world premiere of Malcolm Arnold's Burlesque with the Royal Philharmonic and in 2007, made his solo debut at the BBC Proms performing Schumann's Konzertstück with the BBC Philharmonic. Martin has since returned to the Proms as soloist in Oliver Knussen's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO conducted by the composer, broadcast live on BBC television and radio. In 2008, he made his Barbican debut in the London premiere of Elliott Carter's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO/Knussen (a performance released by Bridge Records) and later performed the Knussen and Elliott Carter horn concertos with the Orquesta Nacional de España in Madrid. Other recordings include Mozart’s horn concertos with the Royal Philharmonic (RPO Classics), Britten's Serenade with Toby Spence and the Scottish Ensemble (Linn), Schubert's Octet with Michael Collins (Wigmore Hall Live), Schumann's Konzertstück with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/Mackerras (BBC Music Magazine), Danzi's Sinfonia Concertante with the Orquestra de Cadaques/Marriner (Trito), Roderick Elms' Four Seasonal Nocturnes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Bell (Dutton) and Benjamin Britten's Canticles with tenor Ben Johnson (Signum Classics). Additionally, Martin Owen has performed on over 300 movie soundtracks to date including James Bond, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean films.
Recent solo performances include Vivaldi Concerto for 2 horns and strings, and Stravinsky Four Russian Peasant Songs with the Berlin Philharmonic, Schumann's Konzertstück and Musgrave's Horn Concerto with the BBCSO/Sakari Oramo, Strauss and Mozart concerti with Bucharest Philharmonic and Strauss Concerto No. 2 with the Baltic Philharmonic. Martin joined Mark Padmore and the Bergen Philharmonic/Edward Gardner for Britten’s Serenade, performed Strauss 2 with Barcelona Opera orchestra/Josep Pons and Strauss 1 with Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg/Sir Roger Norrington. He also performed Britten’s Serenade in Shanghai, Norwich and Cambridge with Britten Sinfonia/Ian Bostridge. 2017/18 included chamber and solo work in the UK, Italy, France, Poland, Austria, Finland, Romania, China, Australia and the USA, and guest principal horn with the Cleveland Orchestra. 2019/20 season saw Martin return to the proms performing Messiaen’s Des Canyons Aux Etoiles, Britten’s Serenade in the Barbican, concerti with Trondheim and Ostrobothnian Chamber orchestras and chamber concerts in Italy with violinist Francesca Dego. 2022 sees Martin recording both Richard Strauss concerti, Weber Concertino and Schumann Konzertstück with BBC Philharmonic/John Wilson for Chandos Records, and also for Chandos, Martin will record trios by Brahms/Ligeti/Mozart with Francesca Dego and Alessandro Taverna, piano, mid 2023.
Martin Owen is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is Professor of Horn, and has given masterclasses at institutions including the Hans Eisler Berlin, Maurice André Academy Valencia, Conservatorio de Santiago de Compostela, USC and UCLA in Los Angeles, as well as being coach to the horn section of the European Union Youth Orchestra.
Francesca Dego
Celebrated for her sonorous tone, compelling interpretations and flawless technique, Francesca Dego is one of the most sought-after violinists on the international scene. Highlights of her 21/22 season include four concerts across Japan with NHK Symphony conducted by Mo. Fabio Luisi, Bernstein’s Serenade at La Fenice and further projects with Orchestre Chambre de Lausanne, the BBC Symphony, the Ulster Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and La Verdi.
Francesca is signed exclusively to CHANDOS Records and her most recent release of Mozart Violin Concerti 3&4 conducted by Sir Roger Norrington with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra was received to unanimous critical acclaim including BBC Music Magazine 5* ‘Record of the month' in November 2021. Other releases include concertos by Paganini and Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari alongside the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Daniele Rustioni, the recital disc Il Cannone, as well as a complete survey of the violin sonatas by Beethoven and of Paganini’s Caprices, for Deutsche Grammophon.
Francesca regularly appears with major orchestras worldwide including performances with the Philharmonia, Hallé, Ulster, Royal Philharmonic and Royal Scottish National Orchestras, Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne, National Symphony in Washington, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, NHK Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova at St Petersburg’s renowned Stars of the White Nights festival, Teatro Regio di Torino, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and all the major Italian orchestras, Orquestra de Sevilla and de la Comunitat Valenciana at Palau de les Arts, Auckland Philharmonia, Oviedo Philharmonic, Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Santa Barbara Symphony, Het Gelders Orkest, and the Orkest van het Oosten.
Her international career to date has allowed her to work alongside many esteemed conductors, Sir Roger Norrington, Fabio Luisi, Lionel Bringuier, Dalia Stasevska, Christopher Hogwood, Yoel Levi, Donato Renzetti, Grant Llewellyn, Wayne Marshall, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Diego Matheuz, Shlomo Mintz, Gemma New, Jader Bignamini, Alpesh Chauhan and Xian Zhang, to name a few.
An outstanding collaborative artist, Francesca thrives in chamber settings, and she has performed with Salvatore Accardo, Alessandro Carbonare, Mahan Esfahani, Bruno Giuranna, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Piers Lane, Jan Lisiecki, Mischa Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Martin Owen, Alessandro Taverna, Roman Simovic and Kathryn Stott, as well as her regular recital partner, pianist Francesca Leonardi. Highlights of the 2020/21 season for the duo have included performances at the Louvre in Paris, Lincoln Center New York, Washington DC, Siena, as well as the final concerts of their complete cycle of Beethoven’s violin sonatas at Unione Musicale, Torino.
Francesca also has a passion for contemporary music and counts herself a dedicatee of the works of, amongst others, Michael Nyman, Carlo Boccadoro, Cristian Carrara, Nicola Campogrande and Marco Taralli. She is a frequent contributor to specialist music magazines, penning a monthly column for Suonare News among others, and has written articles and opinion pieces for the BBC and Classical Music Magazines, The Strad, Musical Opinion and Strings Magazine. Francesca has also recently published her first book, Tra le Note. Classica: 24 chiavi di lettura, with Mondadori in which she explores how classical music can be listened to and better understood today.
Francesca is based in London, and plays on a precious Francesco Ruggeri violin (Cremona 1697).
Alessandro Taverna
Alessandro’s “music making stimulates the senses as does a visit to his native Venice”, and gives “rise to a feeling of wonderment”. When he reached the final and performed Chopin’s First Piano Concerto at the 2009 Leeds International Piano Competition, “the world was suddenly suffused with grave beauty: flawless minutes of poetry”, said the newspaper The Independent.
Alessandro Taverna established his international career by winning major prizes at Minnesota Piano-e-Competition, London International Piano Competition, Leeds International Piano Competition and Busoni Piano Competition in Bolzano. Since then he has gone to perform in some of the most important concert halls and seasons including Teatro alla Scala Milan, Teatro San Carlo Naples, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Musikverein Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, Gasteig Munich, Wigmore Hall and Royal Festival Hall in London, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Salle Cortot in Paris, Philharmonic Hall Liverpool, Musashino Hall in Tokyo, Auditorium Parco della Musica Rome.
His success has led to engagements with many prestigious orchestras including Filarmonica della Scala, Münchner Philharmoniker, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale RAI, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Bucharest Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber, Orchestra of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala, working with conductors including Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Fabio Luisi, Myung-Whun Chung, Daniel Harding, Michele Mariotti, Reinhard Goebel, Carlo Boccadoro, Thierry Fischer, Michael Guttman, Claus Peter Flor, Roland Böer, Joshua Weilerstein.
The London Keyboard Trust has presented him in recitals in Europe and the United States.
Born in Venice, Alessandro Taverna studied with Laura Candiago Ferrari at the Santa Cecilia Music Foundation in Portogruaro and with Franco Scala, Leonid Margarius, Boris Petrushansky and Louis Lortie at the Imola International Piano Academy. He later specialised at the Santa Cecilia National Music Academy in Rome with Sergio Perticaroli, at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Arie Vardi, and at the Lake Como Piano Academy.
Taverna teaches at Imola International Piano Academy “Incontri col Maestro”, at the Conservatory of Music “Cesare Pollini” in Padova and at Santa Cecilia Music Academy in Portogruaro.
For his artistic achievements and his international career, he was awarded the Premio Presidente della Repubblica in 2012.
A documentary on his life was shown on BBC-4 TV. He has also recorded for BBC Radio 3, Rai Radio 3, Slovenian National Radio and Television and for RSI Swiss Radiotelevision.
Following the critical success of his Medtner Sonatas disc for SOMM Recordings, Taverna released an all-French recital disc for the same label: “this superb release will add lustre to his reputation” (Fanfare Magazine)
