American pianist and composer Owen Dodds leads a diverse and stimulating musical life, driven by his desire to share the music he enjoys. A native of North Carolina, Owen currently resides in New York, where he performs as classical soloist, chamber musician, song writer, and composer. He has recently appeared in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Lincoln Center’s Clark Studio Theatre, and Rockwood Music Hall.
An active collaborator and chamber musician, Owen is a member of the Béla Trio with clarinetist Kelsi Doolittle and violinist Stephanie Bonk, which was recently awarded the Donald Spieth Prize for chamber music. Owen’s modern-folk duo, Early Gray, with guitarist Drake Duffer, has released two albums of original music. They have collaborated with artists including Gabriel Kahane and Tanner Porter and were featured on PBS North Carolina.
In recent years, Owen has enjoyed devoting more time to composition. His chamber music works have recently been featured as a part of Stony Brook’s Contemporary Chamber Players, The New School’s Tech Forward concert series, Blairsville Chamber Music Festival, and the Weekend of Chamber Music festival in the Catskills of NY. Owen’s upcoming compositional projects include a piece to be performed by his mentor, pianist Gilbert Kalish.
Owen has received awards in piano competitions including Music Teachers National Association, the Baltimore International Piano Festival Competition, the Malaysian International Music Competition, and the Stony Brook Concerto Competition. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with the UNC School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra and the National Academic Orchestra of Ukraine.
Owen began his official music studies in the high school program at UNC School of the Arts, first receiving instruction from Clifton Matthews and later continuing with Dr. Dmitri Shteinberg for his bachelor’s degree. In 2020, Owen received his master of music degree from Boston University, where he studied piano performance with Gila Goldstein. From 2020-2022, Owen studied at Mannes School of Music with Vladimir Valjarević. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University under the guidance of Gilbert Kalish.
