Gareth Owen (sound designer)

Gareth Owen is an eight-time Tony & Olivier Award-winning/nominated sound designer specialising in musical theatre in London's West End, on Broadway and internationally.

Gareth Owen
Born
Gareth John Owen

(1979-08-20) 20 August 1979
Sheffield, England
NationalityBritish
EducationUniversity of Plymouth
OccupationTheatrical Sound Designer
Years active1998–present
Children2
Websitewww.garethowensound.com

Early life

Gareth John Owen was born in Sheffield, United Kingdom, a son of two teachers,[1] both of whom specialised in special needs education. At the age of nine the family, now including a younger sister, moved to the Cayman Islands where Owen attended Cayman Islands Middle School, while nurturing a life-long love of the ocean. Upon returning to the UK the family, missing the warm weather and sea air, moved to St. Ives in Cornwall where Owen attended both Mounts Bay School and Penwith Sixth Form College before heading to Plymouth University in Plymouth, to study for a bachelor's degree in underwater science.

At various points, Owen has worked as a grocery packer, marina fuel attendant, milkman, Quasar attendant, commercial boatman, pool lifeguard, thai-boxing instructor, and beach lifeguard. He also worked extensively in nightclubs as a lighting jockey, doorman, disc jockey, promoter and production manager.

Career

Owen initially began working in live sound when the Penzance nightclub he was working at started to present live bands which Owen was asked to mix. From here he secured work with Birmingham's SSE Audio Group[2] which lead to an early career in rock & roll, working at festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading, Party in the Park, and T4 on the Beach; and mixing acts such as Def Leppard, The Stereophonics, B B King, The Spice Girls and The Rolling Stones.

Owens theatre career began in earnest when he was invited to mix musical The Blues Brothers which was running at what is now the Trafalgar Studios in Londons west end. About this time, Owen is quoted as saying in an interview "I didn't have a lot of money so I bought a tent and lived in the bands garden".[3] From here he was offered a job as sound designer for the UK tour of Stephen Schwartz' musical Godspell, beginning a collaboration which would continue until the present day.[4] From here, Owen went on to design a number of shows in a freelance capacity (notably Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show and Cole Porters High Society), before joining London's Orbital Sound as a full-time sound designer.[5] In late 2009, Owen parted ways with Orbital Sound and set out to form his own company, Gareth Owen Sound.[6]

Since 2010, Owen has worked directly with many of the world's greatest living composers, including Alan Menken, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stephen Schwartz, Björn Ulvaeus, Glen Ballard, Max Martin, David Bryan, George Stiles, Alan Silvestri and Stephen Sondheim.[7] Owen has also worked extensively creating musicals based on the music of pop icons such as Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, and The Beatles;[8] and is a regular collaborator with many top directors including Robert De Niro, Christopher Ashley, Jerry Zaks, Des McAnuff, Laurence Connor, Christopher Wheeldon, Terry Johnson, Scott Schwartz, Michael Arden and Sir Trevor Nunn.[9]

Broadway theatre

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following Broadway productions[10] in New York City:

West End theatre

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following West End productions[12] in London:

International and regional theatre

Owen has worked as sound designer on the following productions around the world:

Other endeavours

In 2009, Owen joined a steering committee that would eventually go on to form the Association of Sound Designers[14] – an organisation that eventually went on to represent the majority of sound engineers working in British theatre. He served as a full committee member for the maximum possible term of five years, from 2012 to 2018.[15]

Selected awards
Year Nominated work Category ResultNotes
2020 Come From Away Green Room Award for Best Sound Design Won
2020 Come From Away WhatsOnStage Award for Best Sound Design Won
2020 & Juliet WhatsOnStage Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2019 Come From Away Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Won
2019 The Donna Summer Musical NAACP Theatre Award for Best Sound Larger Theatre Nominated
2018 Starlight Express (Bochum) Pro Sound Award for Best Immersive Design Won
2018 Carmen La Cubana BroadwayWorld Germany Award for Best Sound Design Won
2018 Come From Away BroadwayWorld Toronto Award for Best Original Sound Design Won
2018 Bat Out of Hell The Musical Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2018 Come From Away BroadwayWorld Award for Best Sound Design Won
2018 Summer Craig Noel Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2017 Bat Out of Hell The Musical AV Technology Award for Best Sound Design Won
2017 Come From Away Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Sound Design Won
2017 Bat Out of Hell The Musical BroadwayWorld Award for Best Sound Design Won
2017 Come From Away Dora Award for Best Sound Design Won
2017 Individual Recognition Pro Sound Award for Sound Engineer of the Year[16] Won
2017 Come From Away Helen Hayes Award for Best Sound Design Won
2016 A Bronx Tale BroadwayWorld Award for Best Sound Design Won
2015 Memphis the Musical Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Won
2015 Memphis the Musical Pro Sound Award for Best Theatre Sound[17] Won
2015 Hunchback of Notre Dame BroadwayWorld Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2014 Merrily We Roll Along Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Won
2013 Top Hat Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2014 I Can't Sing! Pro Sound Award for Best Theatre Sound Won
2012 End of the Rainbow Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical Nominated
2011 End of the Rainbow Olivier Award for Best Sound Design Nominated
2010 A Little Night Music Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical Nominated

References
  1. "HeadLiner Radio Interviews Gareth Owen". Spotify. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  2. "How SSE became a Go-To for Festival Sound". Pro Sound News. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  3. "Gareth Owen: I didn't get into theatre to do sound effects. I love music". The Stage. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  4. "Stephen Schwartz's The Prince of Egypt". Playbill. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  5. "Gareth Owen, musical theatre sound designer". AV Magazine. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  6. "Gareth Owen Sound Ltd". Companies House. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  7. "Meet the Sound Designers". Avid. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  8. "Gareth Owen: Theatre Sound Designer". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  9. "Listen: The Secrets of Broadway Sound Design". Variety. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  10. "Gareth Owen Playbill Vault". Playbill. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  11. "Michael Jackson Musical MJ Assembles Creative Team". Playbill. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  12. "Gareth Owen Broadway and Theatre Credits". Broadway World. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  13. "Transforming StarLight Express through Immersive Audio". Avid. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  14. "Who We Are". The Association of Sound Designers. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  15. "The History of the ASD". The Association of Sound Designers. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  16. "Pro Sound Award Winners 2017". The Pro Sound Awards. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  17. "Pro Sound Award for Best Theatre Sound". The Pro Sound Awards. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
Owen collects the Olivier Award for Best Sound Design at the 2019 Olivier Awards
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