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Owain Park is a prominent figure on the British musical scene, equally celebrated as a choral conductor and as a composer of choral music. He is the leader of his own group, The Gesualdo Six.
Park was born in Bristol, England, in 1993. He began studying piano as a child and then had his first experiences with choral music as a chorister at St. Mary Redcliffe Church in Bristol. That experience led
Park to places in the
National Youth Choir of Great Britain and the Royal School of Church Music Millennium Youth Choir, for which he served as assistant conductor.
Park attended Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, a school (not a hospital) in Bristol from 2005 to 2010, and among all these responsibilities, he also found time to compose. He won a prize at the St. George’s Bristol Composition Competition; the competition was judged by
Tallis Scholars conductor
Peter Phillips, and his prize came with the opportunity to have his piece, a simple carol, performed by that group. The
Tallis Scholars have continued to champion
Park's music. Attending Cambridge University from 2013 to 2016,
Park studied conducting, composition (his orchestration teacher was
John Rutter), and organ; he financed his education partly as an organ scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. As a conductor, he has led such groups as the
BBC Singers, the
Cappella Cracoviensis, and the Cambridge Chorale, of which he became the director in 2016. In 2014, he formed his own vocal group, The Gesualdo Six, which records for the Hyperion label.
Park's compositions have been performed not only by the
Tallis Scholars but by various other top British choirs, including
Voces8 (which premiered his Antiphon for the Angels) and
Tenebrae (which has performed his Footsteps). His music has been heard on both the BBC and Classic FM networks. The
Trinity College Choir under conductor
Stephen Layton released an entire album of
Park's choral works in 2018. Most of his music is choral, but he has also written a chamber opera, The Snow Child, which was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
Park and The Gesualdo Six released the album Christmas in 2019.