WHEN Footscray tenor Ben Owen was told he had “no musical ability” as a teenager, he decided to pay no attention.
He grew up in Oxford, England, where there was a strong tradition of singing in chapels, and he found he couldn’t shake the musical bug.
Owen took up the flute, piano and recorder, but is now making his mark as a choral singer with the internationally acclaimed Australian Chamber Choir.
Now aged 34, he will join the choir on a national tour that begins in Castlemaine this week before launching into a European tour.
The travelling concert features a range of works written in England between 1550 and 1935, including Vaughan Williams’ Valiant For Truth, which director Douglas Lawrence describes as one of the “finest masses of the 20th century”.
Owen said he was looking forward to hitting the road and taking the concert to country Victoria and NSW as well as the state capitals.
“I like both ends of the musical canon, everything from music from the Renaissance up to Bach and the baroque, through to contemporary works,” he said. “In Footscray recently we performed one of the earliest pieces of music for more than one voice, from the 11th century, but in the same concert we sang minimalist work from the late 20th century.”
While readying for the national and international tour Owen is being kept more than a little busy as the acting director of music at Christ Church in South Yarra, on top of his work as a fraud detector for banks.
He said not relying solely on music for a career meant he could choose projects that were important to him at a great time to be involved in music in Melbourne.
“It’s amazing how much choral music is happening in Melbourne. There seems to be something happening all the time.”
The choir’s three-part concert series, Valiant For Truth, starts in Castlemaine and Geelong this weekend before reaching Middle Park on Sunday, April 14.
Other works include pieces by Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons.
Bookings: auschoir.org
